On Monday, the conference "Cities, Design & Innovation" was inaugurated in Umeå - a three-part conference focusing on the function and values of cities, a design-oriented perspective on urban development followed by a panel discussion on the future where the graduating classes of the Umeå School of Design will present future challenges and opportunities.

The conference was opened by Marie-Louise Rönnmark, Chair of the City Council, and Heidi Hansson, Vice-Chancellor of Umeå University. This was followed by presentations by Fabirzio Coimberti policy officer, DG Research Science and Innovation, Ambra Trotto director at RISE Interactive and Lars Westin, professor at CERUM, Umeå University.

From eXpression, Future Retail Lab and Umeå School of Business, Elin Nilsson spoke about "The chanigng Faces of the Citites - creative industries leading the way". Elin showed the transformation of the retail sector and highlighted examples from the creative industries that have successfully and innovatively shaped their business models to new and changing conditions. Among others, Proto Proto, Random Bastards and Sisters in Law were highlighted, all companies active or spun out of the business incubator eXpression Umeå.

The afternoon ended with a joint dinner at The Pink, formerly Scharinska villan, together with Umeå Design Week participants. Umeå University President Hans Adolfsson welcomed all guests.

Led by Anna Parry, founder of Proto Proto, and Anders Samuelsson, head chef at Gotthard's restaurant, food co-created by children at a primary school in Umeå was served, including edible maracas.