Partner search from Italy - Creative Europe - Culture Subprogram

The organization "Consorzio Sistema Bibliotecario Nord - Ovest (CSBNO)" located in Paderno Dugnano (Province of Milan, Lombardy Region - Italy) is looking for partners in EU member States in order to participate to the next Call of Creative Europe (Culture Subprogram) - Support for European cooperation project (EACEA 29/2015) with deadline 7th October 2015.

The title of the project will be: “New challenges for public libraries".

General objective of the Project is to set up transnational models to develop and test innovative, sustainable and effective solutions for public libraries, facing the information society challenges, for a better participation of all social groups, actors and users in the design and delivery of the services, starting from the local community needs and in partnership with cultural and creative industries.

Specific objectives of the project are:

1. To compare the best practices in partner countries and other countries within and outside Europe, with particular reference to the issues of innovation and social inclusion;

2. Experiment and create innovative products and solutions (design thinking methodologies) to the transnational level to promote library services more efficient, sustainable and responsive to social demands and the new challenges of the knowledge society;

3. Develop models and test pilot at the transnational level to improve the participation of different groups of users to an encounter (matching) between cultural and creative enterprises, incubators, library services and local communities;

4. Create a transnational network between libraries and cultural and creative enterprises to capitalize on the best practices.

General Activities
1. Good Practice - analysis of the situation of library services, comparison of innovative and practical solutions already undertaken in the partner countries and other countries within and outside Europe;

2. On field research - Constitution of the team of librarians and researchers; identification of the target audience; survey on the needs and design through focus groups transnational;

3. Contest / testing / prototyping trans-open call for the selection of young designers; development, prototyping and testing of innovative products for the library services of the partner countries, in relation to the identified target group (group design transnational team composed of librarians, citizens and creative);

4. Networking and communication -communication and diffusion through networking events with local communities, policy makers, the training arms of the outcome of the trial and awards vote the "best" products services to implement;

5. Transnational Network and recommendations to policy makers sustainability assessment of new services and recommendations to policy makers for their implementation and for the establishment of a transnational network of public libraries for innovation.

Duration of the project: 24 months.

Partners found: Consorzio Bibliotecario del Nord Ovest di Milano (lead partner), Università Bicocca (partner)

Expression of interest from:
Lombardy Region;
Municipality of Munich, Germany;
Local and Regional Studies Institute of Sociology, Czech Academy of Sciences - Prague, Czech Republic;
Municipality of Treviso.

For more information about the project, please see the attached file.

Deadline of the partner search: 28th September 2015

The partner search is addressed to Public libraries; Universities and research centres (also in the service design field); regional and local authorities; development agencies.

For further information and contacts:
Consorzio Sistema Bibliotecario Nord - Ovest (CSBNO)
c/o Villa Gargantini
20037 Paderno (MI) Via Valassina , 1
Director of the consortium
Gianni Stefanini
e-mail: gianni.stefanini@csbno.net
Project leader
Simona Villa
e-mail: simonavilla@studio2di2.com
sito: www.csbno.net