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UNESCO Transcultura event reaffirms the role of intellectual property to protect and enhance the work of young Caribbean designers
The UNESCO programme Transcultura: Integrating Cuba, the Caribbean and the European Union through Culture and Creativity, funded by the European Union, organized on 11 May 2023 the online event Designing development: young designers and intellectual property in the Caribbean and Europe, with the collaboration of the World Intellectual Property Organisation (WIPO) and the Bureau of European Design Associations (BEDA).
The Director of the UNESCO Regional Office for Culture in Latin America and the Caribbean, Anne Lemaistre, underlined in her opening remarks that the online event aimed to showcase the potential of young Caribbean designers and explore effective opportunities for their insertion in the European design market, in any of its expressions whether graphic, industrial, urban or interior design.
As the depositary of the Universal Copyright Convention, adopted by the Intergovernmental Copyright Conference in Geneva in 1952 and revised in Paris in 1971, UNESCO is committed, through its Transcultura programme, to provide the region's young talented designers with the tools and opportunities needed so that their work may be protected and valued
During the exchange, participants highlighted resilience as one of the characteristic features of design in the Caribbean and reflected on the potential of this discipline in seeking creative and innovative solutions to create inclusive and accessible spaces.
With rising concerns about climate change and the fate of many small islands, policies that support the design of products, solutions and processes that mitigate global warming, adapt to climate change or otherwise avoid harming the environment may be essential.
Speakers also drew attention to the importance of positioning Caribbean design as a resource available, protected by national legislations, to ensure that local talent is properly valued, and the work of young designers is not plagiarised or underpaid.
In this respect, they pointed to intellectual property as one of the critical areas for the sustainable development of this sector in the Caribbean, which is closely related to the tourism industry and the promotion of subregional brands, a context where joint ventures, transnationals and extra-regional market actors have a great participation.
In addition to providing a space to showcase their creative portfolios to key players in the European design field, the debate allowed young designers from the Caribbean to share their main intellectual property concerns with representatives of the World Intellectual Property Organization (WIPO) and the Bureau of European Design Associations (BEDA).
Intellectual Property rights confer creators the control over their creations to exclusively exploit them -if they wish so- and to claim the moral recognition of their authorship.
Through this event, the Transcultura programme strengthens capacities and creates opportunities for young culture professionals from 17 Caribbean Small Island Developing States, thereby boosting the cultural and creative industries as an engine for sustainable development and economic growth in the region.
