Habitat Living Lab, social and technological innovation network

Abstract

Habitat Living Lab is a network of organizations that aims at developing and applying eco-friendly technologies with low income communities to improve their housing conditions. This article reports Habitat formation from an NGO followed by its interaction with the university. Maturation of the relations among the community, the NGO and the University led to the formalization of Habitat when it joined the European Network of Living Labs (ENoLL) in 2010. The Laboratory of Supporting Technologies for Collaborative Networks (LabTAR) was created for practice and reflection of network projects. Information and communication technologies (ICT) became relevant to promote interaction and innovation. Habitat’s path reveals that this model is feasible. The NGO’s work has already produced social innovation but the projects of technological innovation which began in 2010 are underway. Key elements for Habitat’s good results are: an organization truly committed to the development of the community, collaborative work based on long-lasting partnerships, diverse financial sources, local R&D agency and university policies that value university and community interaction, intensive use of ICT, constant improvement of communication and motivated people.