Lego Labs – how and why should we build Living Labs? Workshop organisers: Ines Vaittinen (ENoLL / iScape project / SISCODE project), Spela Zalokar (ENoLL), Katinka Schaaf (FCC), Agnieszka Wlodarczyk (KTP), Santa Stibe (FCC), Milica Trajkovic (BioSense)
Description: This two part workshop allowed participants to share best practices and lessons learnt on how to operate Living Labs through Lego models. The first workshop “Lego Labs: How to Living Lab?” focused on sharing experiences on best practices and challenges of Living Labs and co-creation methodologies. The second workshop “Lego Labs: Why Living Labbing?” focused on why it is important to do so: why should we build Living Labs.
Aim: The aim of the workshop was to create a space for sharing and learning between the participants. Capturing this knowledge shared is utilised by the workshop organisers in their ongoing project activities: reporting on Living Lab activities and Living Labs co-creation case studies.
Methodology: LEGO® SERIOUS PLAY® is a trademarked workshop methodology that uses lego bricks as metaphors, and engages the participants in story telling addressing a given question. The methodology is based on serious play, addressing serious challenges through playful methodologies – and is helpful in creating an equal floor for sharing and discussing, regardless of the diversity of backgrounds or expertise among participants.
Outcome: When discussing their favourite co-creation activities, two words were used most often in the participant’s stories: “different” & “common”. At first sight this might seem contradicting, but when investigating further, the word “different” was used in describing different types of “problems”, “stakeholders”, “approaches”, “perspectives”, “opinions”, “backgrounds”, “competences”, “ideas” and “views”.
Favourite co-creation activities facilitate differences in coming together, allowing different stakeholders to share different views and ideas regardless of background or views. The word “common” related to common “ground”, “goal”, “design”, “vision”, “understanding”, “problem”. Favourite co-creation activities were centred around a common vision, bringing together these different views around a common problem or goal. Other common words included, for example, “together”, “people”, “process”, “build”, “ideas”, “middle”, “co-creation”, “ground”, “direction”, etc. Challenges, on the other hand, were various and experiences were diverse. Lack of support, motivation, stakeholder engagement & cooperation, funding, collaboration & trust, communication & common understanding were often mentioned. To answer the question of why Living Labbing, similar thoughts were shared: Living Labs are important in facilitating cooperation among a variety of stakeholders, bridging and making connections, and empowering the actors: the people. A dynamic, safe space to explore and experiment.
Value for participants: Participants could share experiences and learn from one another. While building models of their own experiences they were also given the time to look back, to reflect, and to learn from their own experiences. By building the lego models, it is possible that lessons from their previous experiences were uncovered through a closer reflection among peers as well. There were many new insights - although the synthesis of the outcomes highlights the most commonly shared thoughts, there were also many individual thoughts and experiences shared between the participants that offered an interesting perspective. The mixture of participants at the workshop allowed for very different experiences to be shared - a Living Lab working with students had very interesting insights and new perspectives to share with a Living Lab working with elderly people, for example, and vice versa.
Next steps: The outcomes will also feed in to iScape and SISCODE project deliverables.