Once upon a time… it is going to end soon!
27.03.2012 - CITE Madera
Once upon a time, a team of five people from distant places around the world: Mighty Eero, Strong Pekka, Ecologist Tiina (from Finland), Latin Oscar (from Spain), and Dancing Sun (from China), were put together under the skills of the great Mexican Master Rodrigo. They formed one of the most skilled and creative teams in Aalto University.
They were commissioned one of the most dangerous and treacherous missions in all IDBM history: the creation of a business model and tools for CITEMADERA to be used to improve innovation and design in furniture SMEs in Peru. The team had to travel around the world, going through oceans, mountains, desserts, and immense airports where one could get lost so easily… But, the team was able to reach the destination and they met with the people from CITEMadera.
Together, they created an amazing group that could overcome any resistance against design and innovation from the owners of the SMEs, and also surprisingly from the Peruvian industrial designers themselves! That was a big surprise for everyone, as the Aalto team counted on the skills of the Peruvian designers. Soon, they realized that there was much to do in many different fronts: SMEs, design profession, design institutions, and CITEs (government agencies for technology and innovation).
These heroes from Aalto worked really hard during the two weeks they spent in Lima, but they could also recharge their batteries with incredible local food, sights, and sunny weather.
After a long trip back home, they were received as heroes in Helsinki-Vantaa… But, they needed some time to recover from the exhausting travel and hard work. After three weeks, they had recovered the power and stamina to get back to create the final and ultimate weapon (business model and tools) for CITEMADERA to kill any resistance against design and innovation.
If you want to know more, stay tuned…
CITE Madera
The IDBM CITEMadera project aims at finding tools to utilize design in a more versatile manner in Peru's furniture business. The group of five Aalto students, Eero Hintsanen, Oscar Subitras Kärkkäinen, Pekka Sihvola, Sun Huangying and Tiina Vitikkala, will be visiting Peru in February to attend workshops with their Peruvian partners. CITEMadera is part of the Inclusive Innovation for Poverty Alleviation project.
"Our team will travel in week and a half to Peru to meet the hard working people of CITE Madera. We will also visit lot of SME’s working with wood furniture, designers, stores and other places that help us to gain understanding how things work in Peru. Our aim is to introduce tools that help companies to use design as a essential part of their business."
