2.2 Living labs

Figure 3 Stages of the Citizen-Driven Innovation guidebook for establishing a living lab (adapted from ENoLL, World Bank, 2015)

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A flow chart. On the left-hand side is a box that reads ‘Get started: Form partnerships, build trust and test innovation’. Three arrows from this box point to each of three boxes in the centre section, which are grouped together and labelled ‘Making it work’. The three boxes read as follows: ‘Build a strategy: Analyse your potential, define a coherent vision, make a plan’; ‘Co-design solutions: From concepts to follow-up and service implementation’; and ‘Ensure sustainability: Impact assessment, institutionalisation, funding’. There are lines with arrows on each end between the first & second and second & third boxes. There are also three lines with arrows on each end between these three boxes and a box on the right-hand side, which reads ‘Join forces: Network globally to learn, research and speak out’.

Figure 3 Stages of the Citizen-Driven Innovation guidebook for establishing a living lab (adapted from ENoLL, World Bank, 2015)

The European Network of Living Labs (ENoLL) was established as an independent association of living labs in 2010. It’s a not-for-profit organisation and has 3,454 international members spanning six continents. The living labs cover a broad range of issues from cultural heritage to healthcare.

ENoll defines living labs as ‘real-life test and experimentation environments where users and producers co-create innovations’. They’re a form of public–private–people partnership and employ four main activities:

1. co-creation – co-design by users and producers
2. exploration – discovering emerging usages, behaviours and market opportunities
3. experimentation – implementing live scenarios within communities of users
4. evaluation – assessment of concepts, products and services according to various criteria.

ENoLL, its members and the World Bank have co-produced Citizen-Driven Innovation: A Guidebook for City Mayors and Public Administrators [Tip: hold Ctrl and click a link to open it in a new tab. (Hide tip)] , which explains how they work with citizens, entrepreneurs, policymakers, researchers and many others to co-create ideas, products, services and processes. Take a look at the diagram above to see how the guidebook illustrates the main steps. The guidebook identifies the immediate benefits of the co-creation approach ‘a new relationship between people and technology: by designing and creating their own solutions, owners have a sense of empowerment and the products and services gain faster acceptance’ (ENoLL, World Bank, 2015).

Look through the guidebook if you want to learn more about living labs and see if any of the case studies provide ideas for your smart cities project.