Project Spinno
One of the major enterprises of Design Innovation Centre is the EU Structural Fund programme SPINNO. The purpose of the project is to introduce the competence and potential of the Estonian Academy of Arts to the public and implement the output of research and development in enterprise and other sectors.
International internship project
The Estonian Academy of Arts is developing an international internship system for students based on cooperation with partner universities as well as on various cooperation networks and programmes.
Leonardo da Vinci is a cooperation programme aimed at promoting vocational education in Europe and based on international projects. Thanks to the Academy’s exchange project 2005/2006 conducted by Design Innovation Centre eight of the Academy’s students were given the chance for internship in six European countries.
Nordic Innovation Network
Design Innovation Centre is a part of the cooperation network the aim of which is to create a joint platform for the Nordic and Baltic states for stimulating the interaction of traditional industries and the creative industry (above all, design). The final result of the project is an activity plan of increasing the output of creative industry in the period of 2005-2010 in the Nordic area as a whole and in the participating countries separately.
Organising the Estonian preliminaries of World Summit Award 2005
World Summit Award is a competition organised in order to identify and introduce the world’s best e-projects. The aim of the competition is to recognise cultural variety and identity, create various content services and digitalise education, science and cultural heritage.
See also www.wsa.org.ee
The winner of WSA 2005 Estonian preliminaries in the category of e-studies is the virtual abc-book “VIRBITS”, a project of the Estonian Academy of Arts.
In the study year of 2004/2005 Design Innovation Centre has found financing for the following projects:
Computer game “Virbits” /E-Media Centre/
The Estonian Academy of Arts and Tiger Leap Foundation are developing the project “Virbits��? developed by EAA’s E-Media Centre. “Virbits” is a virtual Estonian language abc-book on CD. It is a computer game with the aim of preparing pre-school and 1st grade children for reading and writing and to make it easier for the parents’ and teachers’ to teach children to read. The software enriches the abc-book with playful exercises and interactive tasks and introduces the child (and its parent) the educational function of the computer. Virbits will be available in autumn 2005.
Toys/therapeutic aids for patients with disabilities /Department of Textile Design/
The Department of Textile Design of the Estonian Academy of Arts in cooperation with SA PER Psychiatric Clinic are developing and producing textile therapeutic aids for patients with special needs. Working with children with special needs demands the use of special toys that are safe, allow activities and excite the interest of the child.
Art as Self-Improvement /Open Academy/
The general purpose of the project conducted by the Open Academy of the Estonian Academy of Arts in compliance with the National Action Plan for Employment is to provide the Estonian unemployed or laid-off employees with education in the field of art with opportunities of successful participation in labour market and enterprise that would allow them to get a well-paid specialty job.