Prof Paul Chamberlain (Design Director of Lab 4 Living) receives official membership status with other new network members.

Prof Paul Chamberlain and Dr Claire Craig (Design and Health Directors of Lab 4 Living respectively) travelled to the Netherlands recently to attend the European Network of Open Living Labs' annual conference. During the course of the 3-day event, there was a ceremonious welcome to all new network members with Lab 4 Living standing proudly as one of this new wave of members.

The European Network of Open Living Labs is the international federation of benchmarked Living Labs in Europe and worldwide. Founded in November 2006, the network has grown in 'waves' up to this day. To this date, 7 waves have been launched, resulting in over 340 accepted Living Labs worldwide.

What is a Living Lab?

A Living Lab is a real-life test and experimentation environment where users and producers co-create innovations. Living Labs have been characterised by the European Commission as Public-Private-People Partnerships (PPPP) for user-driven open innovation. A Living Lab employs four main activities:

• Co-Creation: co-design by users and producers
• Exploration: discovering emerging usages, behaviours and market opportunities
• Experimentation: implementing live scenarios within communities of users
• Evaluation: assessment of concepts, products and services according to socio-ergonomic, socio-cognitive and socio-economic criteria