DATE & TIME

30 September 2026, 11:00 – 12:30

ROOM 
Toucan B
TRACKS

TRACK 2: Living Labs for Policies, Governance, Collaboration and Innovation Ecosystems

TRACK 5: Living Labs Operations, Methods, Tools, and Impact

Description

Stop relying on grants by positioning your lab as an External R&D service. This workshop teaches how to use institutional assets as test beds to prove the efficacy of unproven innovations. Participants will learn to deliver decision-ready data that moves social solutions to adoption and scale. 

Agenda

TimeItem
11:00 – 11:10The Utility Shift: Intro to the Rally Grid
Shifting from “Project Manager” to “Infrastructure Architect.” Defining the External R&D service model and the three conditions that make institutional assets available as test beds.
11:10 – 11:25The Asset & Demand Audit (individual reflection, then pairs)
Two columns, forced entries. Column one: three institutional asset holders in your region. Column two: the operational headache each is currently paying to solve. Final five minutes in pairs, pressure-testing column two.
11:25 – 11:50The Scaling Sprint (5 teams of 4)
Each team selects one member’s asset holder and maps the Test-to-Scale pathway for that single case using the Rally Grid Canvas. One real institution, not a composite. Unproven idea through to institutional adoption.
11:50 – 12:15The Sustainability Review (peer-to-peer exchange)
Teams swap canvases and stress test the financial logic. Receiving teams answer three questions directly on the canvas: Who signs the check when the pilot ends? What evidence does that person need to see? Does the proposed data actually produce that evidence? Marked-up canvases return to the originating team.
12:15 – 12:30The Commitment: Naming Your First Test Bed (full group)
Each participant names one asset holder they will approach, the headache it addresses, and the first decision-ready data point required. Rapid round-robin, then close on the Rally Grid as a reusable operating frame.

Facilitators

Kyle Christian Steele

Executive Director & COO, Rally