What is the Living Lab?

A network was established in 2006, European Network of Living Labs (ENoLL).(2012), 320 Living Labs are members of ENoLL and the network is continuously growing. The members are operating all around the world, but their main residence is in Europe.

• Living Lab is an answer to many contemporary trends such as, for instance:
• users changed roles from passive consumers to active prosumers of content,
• shortened time to market for innovators,
• a globalized market through internet and IT’s entrance into peoples everyday activities.

FormIT is a methodology that is developed to suit and support Living Lab activities. Three theoretical streams inspire it: Soft Systems Thinking, Appreciative Inquiry, and NeedFinding. Grounded in these three theoretical streams, FormIT enables a focus on possibilities and strengths in the situation under study; which is fundamentally different from traditional problem-solving approaches.

Agenda setting

The agenda setting stage of the SONNET city lab process focuses on the goal(s) setting and ex-ante analysis. There are two objectives of this stage. First, it sets the frame and provides the basis for a learning process, that is one of major objectives of city labs methodology.

Ex-ante analysis shall allow the development of conceptual tools to be used further at experimenting phase (i.e. to be best prepared for different scenarios to occur). Second, this phase shall enhance collaborative potential of the lab, aligning agendas and fostering plurality, so that participants would identify with the goal(s) set and with their roles. During this stage of the process the following actions are to be undertaken

Agenda setting

When setting the goal, keep in mind that problems around social relations (“how can we work together more efficiently”) are better suited to the City Lab method than problems related to formal institutional barriers (“how can we overcome legal barriers around XYZ”)