DATE & TIME
2 October 2025, 15:45 – 17:00
TRACKS
TRACK 5: Living Labs Operation, Methods, Tools, and Impact
ROOM
La Consortia 4
TARGET AUDIENCE
Policymakers, companies & entrepreneurs, research & academia, LLs representatives and practitioners
TYPE OF SESSION
Roundtable
Description
Living Labs have become fundamental ecosystems for driving innovation in real-world contexts. According to ENoLL (2024), they are defined as open innovation ecosystems in real-world environments based on a systematic approach to co-creation with users that integrates research and innovation activities in communities and/or multi-stakeholder environments, placing citizens and/or end users at the centre of the innovation process.” The European Union (EU) promotes this model through initiatives such as EU Missions, in which researchers, governments, companies, and citizens collectively commit to addressing ambitious and measurable social/societal challenges (European Commission, 2024).
Within this framework, Social Innovation (SI) and Digital Social Innovation (DSI) emerge as key mechanisms for addressing complex social/societal and environmental needs (Lettice and Parekh, 2010; Parth et al., 2021). However, current methods for evaluating the impact of DSI and LLs remain largely focused on KPIs, which carries the risk of providing a limited narrow and incomplete picture of actual social/societal transformation. It is no longer enough to measure results; we must capture systemic change, community empowerment, environmental sustainability, and ethical governance. This session will explore: The limitations of quantitative indicators when the impact of DSI. The need to design new qualitative approaches and mixed methods. The proposal and application of Key Value Indicators (KVIs) to incorporate social/societal, environmental, and ethical values in LL ecosystems. Through sharing the experiences and knowledge of experts, and through joint discussion, the session aims to jointly open up new perspectives for evaluating transformation beyond traditional metrics.
Agenda
Timeslot | Item | Speakers |
|---|---|---|
| 15:45 – 15:50 | Welcome and Introduction |
|
| 15:50 – 16:25 | Presentations by the speakers |
|
| 16:25 – 16:55 | Panel Discussion and Audience Interaction: From KPIs to KVIs – What values should guide Living Labs today? |
|
| 16:55 – 17:00 | Closing Remarks |
|
Speakers
Fatima Canseco
Head of Research, Digital Society Technologies at i2CAT Foundation
Fatima Canseco
Head of Research, Digital Society Technologies at i2CAT FoundationFàtima Canseco-López is Head of Research of the Digital Society Technologies Research Group at the i2CAT Foundation. She holds PhDs in Social Innovation (La Salle-URL) and Electrical Engineering (BIU), as well as degrees in Engineering Management (MEng), Industrial Engineering (BEng), and an MBA (UPC). Her experience spans academia and public administration, including roles at La Salle–URL, UPC, and the Traffic Control Centre of Catalonia. Her work focuses on the intersection of social innovation, digital transformation, and technology governance.
Prof. Dr. Dimitri Schuurman
Senior Research Strategy, ENoLL
Prof. Dr. Dimitri Schuurman
Senior Research Strategy, ENoLLProf. Dr. Dimitri Schuurman is ENoLL’s Senior Research Strategy, as well as an university business developer at imec-MICT-Ghent University and a visiting professor at the department of Industrial Systems Engineering and Product Design of the Faculty of Engineering and Architecture at Ghent University. He holds a PhD in innovation management in Living Labs from Ghent University (UGent) and the Free University of Brussels (VUB) in Belgium. Together with his imec colleagues, Dimitri developed a specific Innovation Management methodology with supporting innovation canvasses (under the label ‘Innovatrix’), specifically designed for multi-stakeholder and multidisciplinary innovation projects. He also leads a special interest group on Living Labs in the International Society for Professional Innovation Management (ISPIM). His main interests and research topics are in the areas of open innovation, user innovation and innovation management.
Koen Vervoort
Senior Stakeholder Strategist at ENoLL
Koen Vervoort
Senior Stakeholder Strategist at ENoLLHelping Living Labs since 2006 @i-City, IBBT, iMinds, City of Thing, iMec as Stakeholder engagement specialist and now as a Senior Stakeholder Strategist at ENoLL, building bridges and opportunities for all members and interested parties. With nearby 20 years of experience in User Involvement, Panel Management and Stakeholder Engagement, Koen is constantly trying to strengthen the Living Lab community around the globe.
Marta Martorell Camps
Director of Digital Society Technologies, i2CAT
Marta Martorell Camps
Director of Digital Society Technologies, i2CATis the Director of the Digital Society Technologies (DST) research group at i2CAT and a Member of the Council of the European Network of Living Labs (ENoLL). She drives a people-centred, ethical, and rights-based approach to digital innovation. Her work focuses on Living Labs, digital social innovation, and impact assessment through Key Value Indicators (KVIs), promoting inclusive, democratic, and human-centric digital transformation. She leads European and international projects addressing the digital and green transitions, social inclusion, and the development of open innovation ecosystems.
Dr. Abdolrasoul (Rasoul) Habibipour
Associate Professor in Information Systems, Luleå University of Technology, Sweden, and Managing Director of Botnia Living Lab
Dr. Abdolrasoul (Rasoul) Habibipour
Associate Professor in Information Systems, Luleå University of Technology, Sweden, and Managing Director of Botnia Living LabDr. Abdolrasoul (Rasoul) Habibipour is Associate Professor in Information Systems at Luleå University of Technology, Sweden, and Managing Director of Botnia Living Lab and educational program leader at LTU. His research focuses on participatory design, user engagement, co-creation, and Living Labs, with a particular interest in ethics, responsibility, and inclusive innovation. Rasoul has led and contributed to several international research and innovation projects and has extensive experience in developing and studying innovations in real-life settings.
Sam Rye
Senior Research Officer, Monash University
Sam Rye
Senior Research Officer, Monash UniversitySam leads Monash University's Living Lab Infrastructure. Working with Living Labs across the university, he works with academics to integrate education, research, campus operations, industry and community engagement. With a background in strategic and systemic design, participatory processes, knowledge translation and with 15+ years supporting cross-sectoral collective action through the likes of social innovation labs, Sam aims to further grow Monash University's capability and supporting structures to tackle the Grand Challenges of our age.
Vicky Van der Auwera
Research manager and co-founder of LiCaLab, Thomas More University of Applied Sciences
Vicky Van der Auwera
Research manager and co-founder of LiCaLab, Thomas More University of Applied SciencesVicky holds a master’s degree in Engineering Sciences from Brussels University Belgium, where she graduated as civil mechanical-electrical engineer. She worked for 14 years in private sector in the area of mechanical engineering as Research Manager and Project manager, where she built up experience and knowledge of machine construction, mechatronics, opto-mechanical measurements, semiconductor measurements. Since 2010 she works for Thomas More University of Applied Sciences in the unit Research. She is one of the team members that started up LiCalab in 2012 (www.licalab.be/en ), in close collaboration with the City of Turnhout. At LiCalab she is responsible for the operational management of the team and she leads EU-projects as well as private assignments.
Leon Cruickshank
Professor of Design and Creative Exchange at Lancaster University
Leon Cruickshank
Professor of Design and Creative Exchange at Lancaster UniversityLeon Cruickshank is Professor of Design and Creative Exchange at Lancaster University. His research focuses on open, co-design processes and understanding and amplifying the impact of these living projects. These range from the £1.2 million Leapfrog project looking at new forms of engagement and mapping impact to Born Into Care, a codesign project to map the process whereby babies are taken into the care system and separated from their parent(s) at birth. He is the President of the European Academy of Design and his latest co-edited book ‘Flourish By Design’ published by Routledge and available as an open access publication here - https://doi.org/10.4324/9781003399568, https://orcid.org/0000-0002-9145-4635