The European Commission has announced the members of a new European Design Leadership Board, to strengthen the link between design and innovation.

The newly established Board of fifteen members from umbrella organisations, design promotion institutions, leading academics, industrialists and designers will steer the European Design Innovation Initiative (which has a Secretariat based at Aalto University in Helsinki) with the aim to "exploit the full potential of design for innovation and to reinforce the link between design, innovation and competitiveness".

It will also support the European Commission in developing a joint vision, priorities and actions to better integrate design into innovation policy.

The members are:

BEDA - Bureau of European Design Associations - Deborah Dawton, President

UEAPME - European Association of craft, small and medium-sized enterprises represented by Gerin Trautenberger, Vice-President of Austrian creative Industries - member of UEAPME

TAFTIE - the European Network of Innovation Agencies - represented by Andrea Siodmok, Technology Strategy Board - member of TAFTIE

German Design Council, Andrej Kupetz, Chief Executive Officer

Barcelona Design Center, Isabel Roig, Directora general

Hungarian Design Council, Dr. Miklós Bendzsel, Chairman

Christian Bason, MindLab Copenhagen

Giovanni Antonio Cocco, Managing Director ISNART S.c.p.A, Istituto Nazionale Ricerche Turistiche

Rachel Cooper, Professor of Design management, Chair of Lancaster Institute for the Contemporary Arts and Chair of Imagination Lancaster

Olli-Pekka Kallasvuo, Chairman of the Committee supporting World Design Capital Helsinki 2012; former President and CEO of Nokia Corporation

Stefano Marzano, Chief Creative Director, Philips Design

Klemens Rossnagel, responsible for Design Research Audi Group

Livia Tirone, Tirone Nunes, Founder of Tirone Nunes dedicated to designing and promoting "bio-climatic" & "sustainable buildings"

Roberto Verganti, Visiting Professor in Copenhagen Business School, Department of Management, Politics and Philosophy and Professor in Politecnico di Milano

Thierry Wasser, Perfumer, Guerlain

A first meeting of the newly established European Design Leadership Board took place in Helsinki on Friday 27th May 2011.

The European Design Innovation Initiative is to be launched by European Commissioner Tajani as a component of the Innovation Union later this summer.