The Design Center Paraná was hired in 2003 by the Brazilian Micro and Small Businesses Support Program (Sebrae) to organize a qualification course for managers of the Via Design program. An initiative of Sebrae nationwide, the program has the goal of disseminating the benefits of design to micro and small companies in the country.

The qualification course took place between September 10 and 12 in Brasília (DF) and gathered managers form 25 states. The program comprised 20 hours of lectures and exercises and approached the following topics:

• Design and economic development;
  
• Design management;
  
• Innovation;
  
• Identifying opportunities;
  
• Contact network;
  
• Prototyping;
  
• Patents;
  
• Modern trends.

Beyond the activities organized by the Design Center Paraná's team, the course had two special lectures, the first by designer Lincoln Seragini, on branding and his professional experience, and the second by communication and marketing consultant Eloi Zanetti, approaching topics such as product concept and costumer relations.