Can Living Labs benefit (im)migrants? Exploring a service co-design approach

TIME

11.00 – 12.30, 4 September

GOAL

The goal of this workshop is to find out if Living Labs can be beneficial for (im)migrant service development and innovation, and if yes in what way could (im)migrants be directly involved

CHALLENGE

In many European countries, the integration of ‘old’ migrants across generations as well as ‘newcomers’, such as refugees and asylum seekers, constitutes a serious challenge for society as a whole.
Inequalities related to ethnic and migration backgrounds are evident: labour and socioeconomic segregation, little use of welfare resources compared to autochthonous populations, modest upward mobility processes, deficient recognition of (im)migrants skills and competences in the hosting society, discrimination in access to opportunities, concealed racism, etc.
It can be very confusing and difficult for (im)migrants to understand how to integrate into a host country. This workshop will use role play and design thinking techniques to explore and understand if involving (im)migrants in the co-design of solutions to ease the access to services within a Living Labs environment will help them better access their rights and accelerate integration.

OBJECTIVE

● Further the understanding of (im)migrant challenges faced by cities and ways they can be overcome
● Broaden thinking about these challenges and solutions through participant role play with persona’s
● Learn about the needs, interests and priorities of different groups that may explain why a particular course of action was taken (or not)
● Support learning dialogues and critical reflection in the interactive activities within diverse groups of stakeholders
● Promote open dialogue as a means of reaching a consensus between stakeholders that do not necessarily see eye-to-eye when it comes to (im)migrants
● Create a role-playing environment that is fun yet beneficial for participants in terms of what they can learn and who they can meet while acting
● Stimulate ideas for new projects that promote any of the following: data-driven (im)migrants policy making; open data; data literacy; healthy data ecosystem
● Create a pool of like-minded enthusiasts that will want to work together on such projects in the future

OUTCOMES

TANGIBLE

● Participants will have a greater stimulus to develop ideas for new projects that they can apply for together with people they had virtually met at the workshop
● Upon acceptance, participants will be offered the option to subscribe to the easyRights mailing list thus being the first ones to find out information about the project and how by using AI we can support the migrants rights
● An after workshop dedicated Newsletter will be created and it will comprise the outcomes and the participating companies/organisations thus an innovative way to promote these companies/organisations

INTANGIBLE

After the session participants will:
• have a better understanding of the challenges and problems (im)migrants face;
• learn about the differences in opinions and attitudes toward (im)migrants;
• be more confident in using their negotiation skills; working as a team
• feel motivated to improve internal practices at their workplace thanks to new perspectives that the role-playing exercise had allowed them to explore
• easyRights project (organiser) will have a significant amount of valuable information with which to improve its pilot operations, methodology, concept, and tools

BRIEF OUTLINE / METHODOLOGY

1. Introduction (10’).
The moderator will explain the session’s mechanics. After that participants will be divided into two groups. Virtual print-outs with role descriptions will be available.
2. Planning (20’).
Members of each group virtually sit together, which is discuss via private chat and study role descriptions to get a common understanding of their needs/interests. Then they figure out who to approach.
3. Liaison (20’).
The main session starts. Participants talk to each other based on role descriptions, explaining their position and why everyone should support it.
4. Debrief (10’).
Each group will present the results.
5. Presentations & Discussion (20’).
A rapporteur from each group presents the outcome of their deliberation. Key points to address include whether they managed to get the support they were looking for; what compromises, if any, had to be made. The moderator will capture all the main points on online notes.
6. Feedback (10’). An online questionnaire will be available for participants to leave their feedback and express interest in future collaboration on EU funded projects.

AUDIENCE

This workshop is mainly targeted towards people working with (im)migrants such as community groups, NGOs, academics, mediators, and other migration related projects as well as city level decision makers. Other decision making levels eg: regional and country government may also find the workshop beneficial. Technical experts will find the workshop interesting as they will have insight into the technologies adopted within the Living Lab. Finally, anyone who has been a migrant themselves is most welcome to share personal experiences.