Speakers: Peter Biegelbauer, Eileen Focke-Bakker, Katharina Handler, Margit Hofer, Raj Kumar Thapa, Ilse Marschalek, Agnes Szalkai-Lőrincz
In the framework of the EC funded project NewHoRRIzon 19 Social Labs have been established all over Europe to address the diverse topics of the Horizon 2020 Working Programme. A Social Lab is not only a method, but rather a paradigm which is social, experimental and systemic that opens up space for reflection and discussion, developing new ideas and further implementing and assessing them. A Lab consists of a series of workshops, involving diverse stakeholders acting on an equal and collaborate basis. In the NewHoRRIzon project, we have adapted the Social Lab approach and used it as a tool to implement public engagement within an RRI process. Each Social Lab has co-designed several pilot-actions that are implemented and managed by the participants themselves.
This session focused on the format of Social Labs and presented experiences from first hand. The aim was to tell and spread message about the Social Lab methods on the one side and to present and discuss experiences, advantages and challenges on the other side, coming up with recommendations for further implementation of the Social Lab approach. A short input by the session hosts, referring to the purpose, the process and the reflexivity of Social Labs, was followed by a panel discussion, involving Social Lab managers, facilitators and participants. Their perspectives and experiences contributed in discussing outcomes and successes, but also in focusing on failures and learning cycles, reflecting what can be adopted for the further implementation of the Social lab approach.
