Sustainable urban innovations: digital co-creation in European living labs

Abstract

Purpose An increasingly urbanized global population is facing multiple, inter-related and inter-connected challenges. By applying the so-called Living Lab concept, the authors open up innovation processes through online and offline collaborations between urban policymakers, non-profit organizations, citizens and other stakeholder groups. However, much of the current research being conducted on Living Labs is lacking in empirically tested methodologies for the co-creation of sustainable urban innovations in defined contexts. This research is intended to fill this gap by presenting a systemic approach to digital co-creation processes in Living Labs. The purpose of this paper is to present the first evaluation results of European Living Labs by applying the new developed digital co-creation monitoring technique. Design/methodology/approach By emphasizing the interplay between places, technology and people, the Digital Co-Creation Index (DCCI) calculation methodology provides a systemic understanding of the basic factors shaping the co-creative processes in Living Labs. DCCI has been used to evaluate such labs in four different European cities: Aukštamiestis in Vilnius, Lithuania; Alvalade in Lisbon, Portugal; Città Studi in Milano, Italy and Zuid Park in Ghent, Belgium. The empirical data for assessment and index calculation were collected by using a mixed-method approach (i.e. qualitative and quantitative analysis). Findings While the findings are complex and varied, the case studies in this paper share several characteristics and patterns – the attractiveness of physical spaces, opportunities for experimentation, the density and diversity of stakeholders involved and the emergence of creative communities that co-design novel initiatives. The results show that digital technologies are underused in the evaluated Living Labs. Research limitations/implications The results are limited to a comparison of the European Living Labs in the research sample. In the absence of an index that was obtained, designed and tested in other territorial contexts, the comparative value of the outcomes of this research can be established between only four case studies. The authors anticipate that the implementation of the C3Places project and other research activities will yield even more scientific results. The findings and their implications should be discussed and tested in the broadest context possible. By focusing on creative synergy between places, technology and people, this paper presents a unified and empirically validated systemic approach to assessing digital co-creation efforts in urban planning. Originality/value Unlike previous research, this paper presents a unified and empirically based approach to assessing digital co-creation efforts in urban planning by emphasizing interplay between place, technology and people.

Moving toward Generalizability? A Scoping Review on Measuring the Impact of Living Labs

“…Kovacs [37] used an "Alcotra and Harmonization cube method" to evaluate the interactive value production coming from the LL. Maciuliene and Skaržauskiene [38] applied a newly developed digital co-creation monitoring technique called Digital Co-Creation Index (DCCI). This methodology provides a systematic understanding of the basic factors shaping the co-creative processes in LLs.…”

“…Our dataset revealed 24 distinct frameworks used for LL evaluation (for e.g., Ballon et al [2], Guzmán et al [36], Kovacs [37], Mačiulien ė and Skaržauskien ė [38], Osorio et al [41], Schuurman et al [28], Schuurman et al [25]). Evaluation frameworks are described in these studies as important to guide the overall assessment process and summarize the final outcome of the evaluation; scholars argue that frameworks help to bring the uniformity in research processes/studies.…”

A Living Lab Approach towards Promoting Innovation

“…Living Labs have undergone transformational processes during the last years by introducing new methods and approaches, especially in public sector organizations. In (Haug et al, 2021) and in (Mačiulienė et al, 2020), the factors that influence the process of co-creation of public values and what are the expected results are studied.…”

Citizens envisioning life in 2040: A qualitative corporate foresight study in London

“…Urban living environments and infrastructure are tangible and durable artifacts, and once a city is built, its physical form can be locked in for generations (Ravetz & Miles, 2016; World Bank, 2022). Simultaneously, lifestyles in cities are under pressure to change because of sustainability concerns, traffic congestion, technological disruptions, and housing shortages, to name a few change factors (Mačiulienė & Skaržauskienė, 2020). The challenges during the COVID‐19 pandemic, such as the difficulty in continuing basic activities of everyday life, have led to a radical rethinking of cities (Moreno et al, 2021).…”