The Copenhagen Institute of Interaction Design (CIID), recognized by Business Insider as one of the top leading design and innovation schools globally, has chosen Costa Rica for its first permanent expansion outside Europe.

CIID will offer courses and programs, such as its renowned Interaction Design Program (IDP), which will be launched in February 2020. Its presence strengthens Costa Rica’s stance as an innovation hub in Latin America and as a world leader in environmental policies. Two successful editions of the CIID Summer School held in Costa Rica in 2018 and 2019 served as a springboard for the institute to implement a large-scale operation in the country.

The Interaction Design Program lasts 12 months and has been taught since 2007 in Copenhagen. Since then, it has promoted leading design, technology and innovation professionals’ careers. This will take shape as well in Costa Rica and will be taught during most of the year in its new headquarters, located in a historic building in Barrio Escalante, which will have a dedicated space for workshops and community events, as well as a state-of-the-art digital manufacturing laboratory.

“We are excited to bring our Interaction Design Program and our valuable global network to Costa Rica, a country with enormous talent and interesting challenges to work. CIID’s vision in Costa Rica is to create a living laboratory of sustainable solutions and opportunities to practice life-centered design and innovation, aligned with the UN Sustainable Development Goals,” says Simona Maschi, CEO and cofounder of CIID.

Vanessa Gibson, Head of Investment Climate of the Costa Rican Investment Promotion Agency (CINDE), said: “CIID’s establishment in Costa Rica is the result of two years of coordinated work between several organizations in the country, interested in promoting and contributing to develop local capacities of innovation. CIID gives a vote of confidence by officially opening this campus, which benefits Costa Ricans and, of course, the region.”

CIID’s establishment is possible thanks to CRUSA Foundation and Mr. Luis Javier Castro. It was also supported by CINDE and the Entrepreneurship Alliance for Development (AED), a group of over 140 companies that promote sustainable business development in Costa Rica.

The CRUSA-CIID alliance aims to boost education in strategic areas within the fourth industrial revolution: design, innovation, technology and fields in the “orange” or creative economy, which are widely considered the works of the future. Other aspects of this alliance include the financing of industry projects with local organizations, further positioning Costa Rica as a center for sustainable solutions that generate a positive impact towards the UN Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs).