Research Track: Living Lab Operations, Methods, Tools, and Impacts

TIME

14:00 – 15:30

Chaired by

Teemu Santonen

Type of Session

Research Session

DESCRIPTION

Following the evaluation procedure the OLLD evaluation committee has accepted the research papers. All papers reflect on the theme of the conference LIVING LABS FRONTIERS: Driving systemic change through Soci(et)al Engagement, for real impact” explores how Living Labs can drive meaningful societal systemic change through active engagement and collaboration.” and have been classified according to its sub-tracks. These are: TRACK 1: Living Labs for Grand Societal Challenges; TRACK 2: Living Labs for Policies, Governance, collaboration and innovation ecosystems; TRACK 3: LLs for Inclusive Soci(et)al Engagement; TRACK 4: Living Labs for Business and Emerging Technology; TRACK 5: Living Labs Operation, Methods, Tools, and Impact.

"Living Labs for Inclusive Soci(et)al Engagement" papers by the Evaluation Committee

Design Ethnographic Toolkits in Living Labs

Esbjörn Ebbesson, Jesper Lund, Vaike Fors & Rachel C. Smith

Esbjörn Ebbesson

PhD Candidate and Lecturer in informatics, Halmstad University in Sweden

Jesper Lund

Senior Researcher in Informatics at Halmstad University in Sweden

AbstractThis paper explores Toolkits’ role and material characteristics as a vehicle for generating impact through sustaining findings and ways of working from Living Labs. Toolkits to sustain findings within Living Labs are not new, but literature concerning their characteristics and expectations by Living Lab actors is scarce. By reflecting on the design of two different toolkits concerning the design of future smart mobility services and interviews with stakeholders from the public and private sectors concerning their expectations of the role and characteristics of said toolkits, the paper outlines the primary role toolkits play concerning co-learning in living labs, how they can be designed through a reflective design ethnographic practice, and highlights essential characteristics of toolkits to facilitate sustaining of them into other contexts.

Key words: Toolkits, Methods, Sustaining, Engagement, Design Ethnography, Mobility 

How to stage and assess processes of co-creation in Living Labs: A Design Ethnographic approach

Gregor Cerinšek, Vaike Fors, Melania Mihalcea, Michiel Bertels, Regina Enrich Sard

Gregor Cerinšek, PhD

Senior Impact Strategist at Halmstad University, Sweden, and the Head of the Department for Applied Social Science Research at the Institute for Innovation and Development of the University of Ljubljana, Slovenia

AbstractWater scarcity and pollution pose critical challenges worldwide, exacerbated by factors like population growth, urbanization, and climate change. Mediterranean coastal regions face particularly acute issues due to overexploitation and pollution. Conventional management approaches have often fallen short, necessitating innovative, collaborative strategies. Living labs, as transdisciplinary research and open innovation ecosystems, offer promise in co-creating solutions for sustainable water management. This paper presents empirical evidence from a living lab initiative focusing on sustainable water management. Drawing on two PRIMA-funded projects, the study showcases how living labs can open new social learning spaces to support the co-design of practical solutions for sustainable water management, fostering technical and governance innovation in socio-ecological systems. Through stakeholder engagement and participatory workshops, the living lab facilitated multi-stakeholder collaboration and the co-design of tailored practical solutions for sustainable water management and pollution reduction. However, challenges in the governance and long-term sustainability of the living lab persist, emphasizing the need for continued engagement and integration into local policy and practice.

Key words: Living labs, sustainable water management, innovative governance, co-creation, socio-ecological systems, community-based approach 

Creating a Sense of Community among Stakeholders of a New Living Lab by Mapping Local Risk in Daily Commutes

Carole Rodon, Isabelle Ragot-Court, Zoé Dubreuil-Szymanski, Claire Naude

Dr. Carole Rodon

PhD in Social Psychology (University Paris-Nanterre) and psychologist in private practice

AbstractThis article introduces the first ongoing participatory research study of Mouvedis Living Lab that focuses on current and future mobility issues (transition) and their impact on accident rates. Objectives are to develop a better understanding of the risk areas during daily commute in a medium-sized town (South of France) and to create a sense of community among stakeholders. Risk in local travel will be explored from the viewpoints of car drivers, users of (electrically-assisted) bicycles, electric scooters, and other decarbonized light individual modes, and from actors and decision-makers in public action concerning travel safety and local urban planning. Group interviews will be carried out using an innovative method of participatory mapping of representations and practices. Different risk indicators will be collected and incremented by GIS to result in an integrative participatory mapping. Thus, the location of sensitive sectors or specific sections (street, route…) of the road environment will consider the city as it is designed, experienced, and perceived, and will be analyzed with regard to locally known recorded occurrences of accidents. It will be a useful tool for prioritizing preliminary themes for upcoming action researches.

Key words: Participatory Mapping, Mobility, Daily Commute Safety, Travel Risk, Urban Living Labs, Community Empowerment

Co-designing Innovative Nature-Based Solutions for Sustainable Land And Water Management: insights from the SALAM-MED Living Labs

Lorenzo Labellarte, Alessandra Scardigno, Georgios Maneas, Ahmed Elshenawy, Chiara Ceseracciu, Christos Pantazis, Hussien Mohammed, Javier Pérez-Romero, Mohamed Ait El Mokhtar, Mongi Ben Zaied, Pier Paolo Roggero, Stavros Solomos

Lorenzo Labellarte

Researcher and Consultant at CIHEAM Bar

AbstractThe Living Lab approach is gaining popularity as a way to stimulate the co-design of innovative nature-based solutions (NBSs) to improve the resilience of endangered Mediterranean dryland socio-ecological systems and to restore degraded ecosystems in lands arid and hyper-arid. However, the socio-ecological complexity of the rural and agricultural contexts of the Mediterranean presents specific potential and constraints that have been considered by six Living Labs in the context of SALAM-MED PRIMA project. Since the stakeholder mapping phase and then in the co-design of the NBSs, the Living Labs have been designed as spaces to generate lasting learning processes and tailored methodological approaches have been adopted to empower local stakeholders and support the scaling-out of NBSs.

Key words: Co-design; Nature Based Solutions; Living Lab; participatory governance; land and water management; socio-ecological system. 

Trial Troops to engage residents in Helsinki Innovation Districts

Kaisa Spilling, Anne-Mari Sandell, Ruska Tapiovaara,

Anne-Mari Sandell

Project Manager and Communications Specialist, Forum Virium Helsinki

AbstractHere we present a systematic model to reach and engage citizens in district urban labs for various innovation projects. The citizen innovation pool, Trial Troops, is one of the tools for urban innovators used in the Helsinki Innovation Districts1), run by Forum Virium Helsinki. It offers residents the opportunity to participate in various urban lab activities as informants, co-creators, lead users, and testers. Trial Troops provides multiple benefits for the stakeholders in district level urban labs throughout the value chain. In the future, the focus is shifting towards visualising and combining data on district level in order to gain deeper understanding of the users and phenomenon data.

With this paper, we want to open an exchange on best practices to support continuous and systematic citizen engagement within district living labs.

Key words: Citizen pool, District urban lab, Citizen engagement, Participation, Public awareness on smart city development 

 

Verifying the Practical Usefulness of a Living Lab Device Taxonomy: Preliminary Results from a Multiple Case Study

Teemu Santonen

Teemu Santonen, DSc

Principal Lecturer Laurea University of Applied Sciences

Abstract: Recently a taxonomy for digital data collection and intervention tools was published in the context of health and wellbeing living labs. However, the taxonomy has not been empirically tested and therefore this multiple case study is proposed to evaluate its practical usefulness. The study sample consists of 9 living labs that were conducting 14 health and wellbeing living lab research projects in the context of rehabilitation, transitional care, and everyday living environments. A total of 47 different devices were identified, including cheap consumer products and more expensive devices targeted at professional users. Devices in ‘activity and behavioral monitoring and tracking’, ‘cognitive ability and mental processes’ ‘body size and composition’ and ‘vital signs’ were the most commonly used. Factor analysis loaded the research project into five main factors and revealed that certain devices were utilized in jointly manner. Future research viewpoints regarding taxonomy are discussed.

Key words: Living lab, taxonomy, data and devices, data collection tools, intervention, monitoring Living lab, taxonomy, data and devices, data collection tools, intervention, monitoring