Significant funding for MUOVA to design sustainable industrial systems

The Ministry of Education and Culture has granted universities of applied sciences five million euros as discretionary state funding for research, development and innovation. Vaasa University of Applied Sciences’ Design Center MUOVA was awarded 424,000 euros in funding for the DesignPSS – Designing sustainable product-service systems profiling project.

The need for sustainable, digital and systemic change in industry is acute due to climate change as well as energy, material and component shortages. Production companies are motivated to develop their services alongside their products in order to respond to changes in the business environment. MUOVA’s DesignPSS project focuses on the design of a sustainable product service system that combines both design, business and technology expertise in the development of sustainable and digital business.

The goal of the project is to improve the research capabilities, quality and effectiveness of interdisciplinary research, innovation and development activities through the design of product service systems in order to promote digital servitization and the sustainable development of the industry. The project develops research practices for cooperation and dissemination of new information, demonstrations and expertise in the field.

User-oriented innovations with the help of design

The design of product service systems focuses on creating design practices, processes and methods that promote customer orientation, creativity and efficiency. It emphasizes the role of visualization, joint development and rapid prototyping as a promoter/enabler of innovation. Through design approaches, the project promotes innovation capacity related to sustainable development, digitization, servitization, XR and database systems.

“Design brings a user-oriented innovation process to system development. With the help of the financing, we can strengthen the region’s know-how in the development of sustainable industry”, says Development Manager Miia Lammi from MUOVA.

“We are really happy about this substantial funding, which gives MUOVA the opportunity to deepen its own strategic expertise and at the same time participate in building a sustainable society together with companies,” comments Annika Hissa, Director of MUOVA.

As a result of the project, new research, development and innovation know-how and practices will be created, as well as a design toolkit for product service systems, which includes design methods for the digital servitization of sustainable development. The cooperation ecosystems identified in the project are the transport, construction and metal industries, all of which play a key role in reducing environmental impacts.

The direct impact of the project is innovation in digital and low-carbon industry. It also creates long-term capacities for international and national research cooperation.