Creative Spark: Get Ready to Innovate Armenia

Timeframe: 2018 – present
Funder: British Council

Get Ready to Innovate Armenia (GRTIA) is a British Council Creative Spark funded programme through which Northumbria School of Design is leading a partnership with the American University of Armenia’s Akian College of Science and Engineering to develop and deliver design-led enterprise education. As part of a connected suite of action-research projects, GRTIA is deploying the Get Ready to Innovate innovation readiness programme through local mentors as a means to support business start-up in Yerevan and the greater Armenia regions. Collectively the suite of projects (delivering the programme in NE England, Birmingham Alabama and Armenia) is contributing to knowledge creation about the effectiveness rapid design-led intervention innovation and enterprise creation. Through the project the Northumbria team was invited to develop and lead Enterprise Education Policy Dialogue workshops in Armenia with MPs, Deputy Ministers, government advisors and university and business leaders. Subsequently the team was asked to write Enterprise Education Policy Recommendations for the Armenian Prime Minister and Ministry of Education and Science. The team are now developing a new postgraduate multidisciplinary innovation programme in partnership with AUA.