As Europe strives to develop a knowledge-based economy and exploit innovation as a tool for economic growth, it is vital to ensure that innovative ideas actually manifest as successful products and services. Investment in R&D and innovation must be encouraged, but it is equally important for countries to be prepared to convert this knowledge into commercial products and services. Design is seen around the world, particularly in emerging industrial nations outside of Europe, an essential step in the process of transforming innovative ideas into products and services fit for purpose. There is currently a shortfall in this area in most EU countries, particularly within SMEs. The SEE project is a partnership of 11 organisations wishing to establish how this shortfall can be reduced to best effect by sharing experience, developing new thinking and influencing regional policy.The group will share information on policies that have been successful in using design to boost innovation, entrepreneurship, sustainability or economic development. All the partners are already active in establishing design programmes or strategies at regional or national levels which target SMEs and their lack of resources for implementing design practice and innovation into their business. This group is now willing to develop an interregional cooperation to exchange information and experiences in order to identify, analyse and disseminate good practices on innovation and design policy and other related areas (e.g. sustainability, R&D).The partner organisations, from UK, Belgium, Denmark, Estonia, Finland, France, Ireland, Italy, Poland, Slovenia and Spain, alll work as an integral part of regional innovation policy and have commitment from regional government to improve their provision and delivery of policies for innovation, entrepreneurship and design.The SEE project proposes to operate from July 2008 to June 2011. The project will deliver two Conferences, four Thematic Workshops, a Study Visit, a Collection of Good Practices on Design Policies, six Newsletters, an internal contacts database, four Booklets of Policy Recommendations and 6 short films on policy best practice in this field. The aim of the SEE project is to establish an active dialogue within each region at both an operational and strategic level in order to positively influence regional policies for innovation and design. Achievements: SEE is a network of eleven European partners exploring how to integrate design into regional, national and European policies to stimulate innovation, sustainability and social/economic development by pooling knowledge, sharing experiences, stimulating debate and developing new thinking. This has been achieved through various activities including two conferences; four thematic workshops involving partners and policy-makers; a study visit; a case study library; four policy booklets; an internal contacts database and six bulletins. Among all the activities, the SEE Policy Booklet has enjoyed the most positive results due to (1) the close interaction between partners and policy-makers in the preparatory workshop, (2) the feedback and input provided following circulation among key policy actors in Europe and (3) as a tool for conveying the value of design in broadening the scope of innovation to include social innovation, sustainability and non-technological drivers. The first three months of the project (Oct-Dec 2008) were mainly focused on setting up the partnership, the Subsidy Contract, Partnership Agreement and project guidelines.The opening conference also took place in October (Cardiff, UK) and centred on good practices in design policies and design support programmes for SMEs. Among the presenters was Charlotte Arwidi from the European Commission Directorate-General for Enterprise and Industry, discussing future EU innovation policy and the opportunities for integrating design. The conference was attended by all partners and delegates from 18 different countries. In order for the knowledge shared during the event to be widely available the transcript has been uploaded onto the SEE website. In the second phase of the project (Jan-June 2009) the SEE partners focused on preparing the SEE website, the internal database, the study visit to Finland and the first thematic workshop held in Lyon (France). The May 2009 study visit, hosted by the Finnish partner, provided the group with an opportunity to learn about the concept, implementation and results of the Finnish policy 'Design 2005!' All eleven SEE partners attended and most were accompanied by government representatives or regional policy-makers in order to discuss and disseminate good practice in innovation and design policies. The partners were able to estalish a good rapport with their policy-makers, which was further strengthened during the interactive group exercises and close collaboration in the thematic workshops. The June 2009 thematic workshop focused on 'Integrating Design into Regional Innovation Policy' (the basis for the first SEE Policy Booklet). It also included the first Steering Committee where partners prepared a joint response to the European Commission's public consultation on 'Design as a driver of user-centred innovation', a concrete opportunity to incorporate design into EU innovation policy. In the third stage (July-Dec 2009) the partners published the first SEE bulletin and the first SEE Policy Booklet both distributed to key actors and stakeholders in the contacts database in the SEE partner regions/countries. The second workshop was held in November (Copenhagen, Denmark) and explored the theme 'Bridging Innovation and Sustainability through Design'. The second Steering Committee also took place and each partner presented two project achievements and one target for the next meeting. The involvement of the policy-makers in the workshop has strengthened the link between the project and government officials and is proving to enhance the practical policy-making capacity of the project. In the fourth stage (Jan-June 2010) two SEE bulletins and another Policy Booklet will be published. The third workshop will take place in May in Florence (Italy). Through the various activities, the project is displaying tangible results and providing valuable tools for policy-makers.