NOVA ISKRA and IKEA announced the beginning of their strategic cooperation

Design Incubator NOVA ISKRA and Swedish company IKEA have signed an agreement on strategic cooperation. NOVA ISKRA and IKEA will collaborate within each of three NI programs: DESIGNERS LAB, CREATIVE HUB and INDUSTRY HUB.

Within the framework of DESIGNERS LAB program, IKEA will equip NI workspace, including three only IKEA zones: meet, learn and kitchen which will entirely be equipped with IKEA furniture.

The partnership within CREATIVE HUB will involve the cooperation with IKEA OF SWEDEN, within which the programs for additional education (IKEA EDU) and study visits to IKEA company production facilities (IKEA LAB) will be realized. Additionally, the cooperation will include potential partnership in the development of IKEA project lines, where original domestic designs will have a chance to become IKEA products. The cooperation also involves guest lectures from IKEA of Sweden experts within the educational NI program, workshops, seminars, and public lectures of leading IKEA experts, as well as study visits to the innovation IKEA centre in Sweden intended for best young designers, consulting for NI platform development, internal competitions and so forth.

Partnership within NI INDUSTRY HUB will primarily address issues such as familiarization of domestic companies with business values, operating and production standards, as well as with aesthetic and functional criteria that brought IKEA to its leading position in furniture industry worldwide. The cooperation between NOVA ISKRA and IKEA will be realized through three programs: The promotion of IKEA values, including corporate social responsibility, Business partners and Education Program.

Additionally, IKEA and NI plan to realize thematic competitions, opened to all NI members, supported by IKEA, and directly linked to its production plans and visions. Moreover, NI and IKEA are also planning to launch SERBIA CHALLENGE program, within which new IKEA products with a specific “geographical origin” will be developed and produced. These products are supposed to be designed and developed by Serbian designers and produced within Serbian companies, with aesthetic and production features clearly indicating the products’ origin.