Author: wpadmin

Celebrating the Success of the SeDiHub Project

As the SeDiHub project draws to a close, we reflect on the incredible journey and achievements of our initiative to foster sustainable digital economies for micro and family businesses across Europe. Funded under the Erasmus+ Programme, SeDiHub has created a robust platform for service design, digital transformation, and sustainable development, providing essential tools and training to small businesses and vocational education providers.

Our final conference, held on May 15, 2024, was a testament to the collaborative spirit and innovation that has driven this project. Here’s a recap of the day’s highlights and presentations that marked this significant milestone.

Conference Agenda Highlights

Introduction to the SeDiHub Project Aare Raev kicked off the conference with a comprehensive overview of the SeDiHub project, outlining its objectives, achievements, and future impact. He emphasized the project’s success in promoting service design thinking and its role in sustainable economic growth.

Get Serious About Design Thinking! Taavi Tamm led an engaging session on the importance of adopting design thinking principles in everyday business operations. Through interactive activities and real-world examples, attendees learned how to implement these strategies effectively.

Riding the Wave of Service Design: Sauga Fishing Village Case Study A compelling presentation on the transformative journey of the Sauga Fishing Village, showcasing how service design has revitalized their community and business practices.

Burning Money: The Tamiatics Experience The Tamiatics team shared their candid story about the trials and errors they faced in product development and the critical lessons learned. Their journey emphasized the importance of customer validation and adaptive strategies.

Sustainability in SMEs Pedro Soutinho delivered an insightful talk on the significance of sustainability in small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs), providing practical advice on integrating sustainable practices into business models.

Introduction to RIP + MIX by Alexandros Ioannou Peletie Alexandros Ioannou Peletie introduced the innovative design method “RIP + MIX,” developed by T-Labs Deutsche Telekom Berlin and a research team from the University of Dundee. This fast and effective tool encourages creativity and was followed by a hands-on RIP + MIX activity that engaged participants in exploring new design approaches.

The Need for Personal Branding in Small Businesses Grete Männikus highlighted the necessity of personal branding for small business owners, offering valuable tips on building and maintaining a strong personal brand to enhance business credibility and customer trust.

We are thrilled to share the highlights and outcomes of the final SeDiHUB Project meeting held on May 14, 2024, in the beautiful coastal city of Pärnu, Estonia. This event marked a significant milestone in our journey, bringing together managers and project team members from all partner organizations to reflect on our collective achievements and chart the path forward.

Meeting Highlights

1. Discussion and Synthesis of Final Results

The meeting kicked off with a comprehensive discussion and synthesis of the final project results. Each partner presented their findings and contributions, showcasing the successful collaboration that has been achieved through the SeDiHUB project. The synthesis highlighted the innovative solutions developed and the positive impacts achieved in our respective fields.

2. Achievement of Project Indicators

We evaluated our performance against the project indicators, and we are proud to report that we have met and, in many cases, exceeded our targets. This achievement is a testament to the dedication and hard work of all partners involved.

3. Financial Issues

Financial discussions were conducted to ensure transparency and accountability. We reviewed the budget allocations, expenditures, and ensured all financial obligations have been met. This session was crucial in maintaining the financial health and integrity of the project.

4. Intellectual Property Rights

The team delved into the discussion of intellectual property rights, ensuring that the innovations and outputs generated during the project are adequately protected and that all partners have a clear understanding of their rights and responsibilities.

5. Final Reporting Requirements

With the project nearing its conclusion, final reporting requirements were discussed in detail. This session provided clarity on the documentation needed, deadlines, and the process for submitting final reports to ensure a smooth and efficient wrap-up.

6. Managerial Issues and Risks

We addressed various managerial issues and potential risks, reflecting on the challenges faced during the project and the strategies implemented to overcome them. This discussion provided valuable insights for future projects.

7. Evaluation of Project Implementation and Impact

An in-depth evaluation of the project’s implementation and its impact was conducted. We celebrated the success stories and learned from the challenges, ensuring that the knowledge gained will inform future initiatives.

8. Exploitation of Project Results and Sustainability

A key focus was on the exploitation of the project results and sustainability. We explored how the outcomes can be leveraged beyond the project’s lifespan and identified opportunities for future collaborations based on our results. This discussion was vital in ensuring the long-term impact and sustainability of our efforts.

Looking Ahead

As we conclude the SeDiHUB project, we look forward to the continued collaboration and innovation inspired by our work
together. The meeting in Pärnu was not just an end, but a new beginning, as we explore future projects and initiatives
that build on the success of SeDiHUB.

We extend our heartfelt gratitude to all partners for their unwavering commitment and contribution. Together, we have
made remarkable strides and set a solid foundation for future endeavors.

Stay tuned for the final report and further updates on the SeDiHUB project’s legacy.

In the week of midsummer day, we had LTT (Learning, Teaching, Training) training activity. The training took place in Finland and was organized by the local project partner SIEC. In total, LTTA lasted 4 days. 2 project partners from Finland, 1 from Cyprus, 2 from Spain, 3 from Estonia, 2 from Portugal and 2 from Greece participated in the training.

Through the activities of LTT, we had the opportunity to harmonize the project partners’ understanding of service design and how to use it for the development of sustainable business and environmentally friendly service provision, and to increase the knowledge and skills of all parties.

In order to proceed with the next steps of the project, it was necessary to achieve a common level of knowledge about this topic.

The topics of the training were:
– Service design with four process phases, focusing on synthesizing and prototyping. This, in turn, increased the participants’ knowledge of service design phases and the logic of design thinking.

– Synthesizing methods were discussed and practiced: affinity diagram, persona, empathy map, customer journey. This increased the ability to synthesize qualitative data from interviews to create personas and develop empathy maps.– Using a matrix to select ideas for prototyping.

– Prototyping methods were discussed and practiced: models, design samples, storyboards, etc.

– Value proposition and how it relates to the persona/empathy map method. Thanks to this, the skill/ability to create a value proposition based on the persona/empathy map of the target segment was acquired.

– Sustainable business models and provision of environmentally friendly services through service design. Thanks to this, the participants’ ability to connect service design with sustainable business models increased.

The activities implemented during the LTT were the following:
– Partners presented the results of their focus groups/interviews and the results were synthesized, commonalities were found.

– Based on the interview results, personas were created and analyzed. Different individuals representing findings from different countries were compared.

– Objectives, topics and learning outcomes of the study modules were discussed and a first draft was prepared to create a training approach and module curriculum.

– Options for creating an online learning environment were discussed and the first possible approach was established.

The training also helped to create a pleasant and freer communication environment between the project partners, and thanks to this, it creates a more productive environment for the efficient and effective implementation of the rest of the project’s activities.

SeDiHUB aims to develop micro and family businesses to use service design for sustainability and digital service development and is structured around the following objectives:

• Raise the awareness of small and family businesses about services in order to develop customer-oriented services of the digital economy in a sustainable and environmentally friendly way
• To provide suitable, skills, competences to small and family businesses that contribute to the development of customer-oriented services to a large extent themselves
• To provide vocational education and training providers with a methodical approach to use new tools and online learning resources in teaching sustainable development, taking environmental issues and digitization opportunities
• Securely create training material for small and family businesses, with guidance and tools for services
• Create an online learning platform for developing service design thinking for small and family businesses
• Create a hub for small and family businesses where stakeholders can learn how to design services, meet and create shared services
• To increase the awareness of policy makers and stakeholders related to the business development ecosystem about sustainable thinking, as an important point in the development of value-added services, digital economy and sustainability.

As a result of the SeDiHUB project, partners will create:

1. SeDiHUB’s training approach and modular curriculum, which includes a training methodology and subsequent evaluation, which is helpful for improving the skills of small and family businesses in the development of environmental services, sustainable development of sustainable entrepreneurship and the use of the digital economy.
2. SeDiHUB’s training materials, firmly designed through its structure and content to pay attention to the needs of small and family businesses, to develop a sustainable and environmentally friendly service related specifically to their personnel and field of operation. The training material serves the principles of distance learning, online and independent learning and service design theories.
3. SeDiHUB’s online platform, a certified online learning platform for small and family businesses to deliver training materials, and great insights into the service design process and tools. It is enriched with a toolbox for web-based service design, including gamified resources.
4. Guide to using SeDiHUB tools, during which a comprehensive guide is prepared for creating a center for small and family businesses and for the further use of the SeDiHUB field, both for vocational education and among those who provide training, support, consular services, etc. for small and family businesses.

All the partners gathered for the project Kick-off meeting in January 2023. Due to the travel restrictions, the meeting was held online. During the meeting partners introduced their organizations and shared their experiences with service design. Forwardspace as the project leader introduced the main goals, objectives and activities of the project. Panepistimio Patron as the leader of the first result – training approach and modular curriculum – introduced the activities that are needed to be done by every partner in order to produce excellent output. Thanks to the meeting, partners had more common understanding the activities and the importance of this object and interesting work for producing the results got started!