Knowledge Exchange Hub Design In Action (KEH DIA) is a national network of organisations (academia and industry,) committed to working in effective collaborations, through the ethos of knowledge exchange to deliver a working model of multi-sector participation that meets the requirements for products, processes and services designed for the demands of tomorrows users. It will build economic capability through design-led innovation to ensure that Scotland can maximise its capacity to operate effectively and meet the imperatives of building new economies for future world markets. The aims of KEH DIA are to: Engage design and mobilise entrepreneurial capacity in five key sectors of food, sport, ICT, rural economies and wellbeing Develop a knowledge exchange model for innovation Develop a collaborative partnership model for Scotland that builds upon existing public support mechanisms Understand opportunities for growth in international markets Develop hard and soft metrics for the creative economy KEH DIA offers a genuine alternative to the existing approach to knowledge exchange, which is project-based and demand-led. It currently occurs in isolation and when the need for it has been identified. The KEH DIA is a unique proactive model of knowledge exchange, harnessing the strategic thinking capabilities of design and designers to work on problem identification through dialogue with multiple stakeholders, in order to envision multiple perspectives / scenarios for emerging issues and single complex problems. The core KE activities undertaken by the strategic partners include 15 'Sandpit' events (which is an extreme model for facilitating innovation) resulting in a minimum of 20 Small Grant Scheme awards to develop prototypes, 10-40 support grants for micro-enterprises to fully engage in the process, an interactive Design Portal, Virtual Incubator and a series of 40 Change Audit Grants. The four Scottish art colleges - Duncan of Jordanstone College of Art & Design, Edinburgh College of Art, Glasgow School of Art, Gray's School of Art, University of Abertay Dundee, University of St Andrews, Creative Scotland, Cultural Enterprise, Scottish Enterprise, DC Thomson, and the V&A at Dundee are the key partners, working in conjunction with an additional 30 companies. These companies, range widely from independents to SMEs to multi-nationals and collectively our partners have pledged £1, 470, 563 in-kind support. They are drawn to the project by the KEH DIA's approach to participatory knowledge exchange with many more keen to engage with the truly collaborative approach that the Hub will take. Developing strong networks between academic institutions and various companies to disseminate the research and working practices that arise as a result of the KEH DIA will be key to strengthening the creative economy and to embedding the innovative approach of design throughout these networks. KEH DIA will adopt a wide-ranging dissemination strategy working in partnership with all of its strategic partners to build understanding of design across Scotland for all audiences. It will also use a variety of visual means to articulate design as strategy for innovation; these will be distributed and exhibited across Scotland in a variety of traditional and non-traditional spaces to build momentum, visibility and an appetite to engage with the people and process that are design. Design is the strategy for effective innovation through partnership and provides a model that places design excellence at the heart of its delivery, building an inclusive culture with design values, which will generate a perceptual change in the image of Scotland as a design driven culture. The legacy is to embed in each region in Scotland an innovation strategy, that demonstrates the transformational effect of design to a range of audiences, enabling insights gained to become an established framework for companies to use strategically as a tool for growth.