Waag works with partners from Denmark, Finland and Sweden in the project Express2Connect at Photobluff!, a 'story telling game' that aims to increase the social connectedness of older adults and their environment. This game is expected to be launched in the Appstore Fall 2012 and can be played on the iPad. The app has been developed in close contact with the users. They were involved in several co-creation sessions, that took place in the four participating countries. A number of living labs have worked together at Photobluff!. The third Living Lab Summer School, that was held in Helsinki from 20-24 August 2012, was a good opportunity to bring the game to the attention of the Living Lab community.
Anne Ayvari of Laurea University moderated the workshop 'Opening up the Living Labs' results to SMEs; Rotating the insights and ideas gained in the Express to Connect project', assisted by Marianne Dannbom of Forum Virium and Sabine Wildevuur of Waag. A group of more than 20 people were gathering around the iPads and played the game after a short introduction by Anne Ayvari. It showed that this was a very good way to get to know each other in a very short time. But even more important was the conclusion that the insights and sharing of knowledge could be well used as input for the second half of the workshop, where the participants were considering new concepts based on their knowledge of the Express2Connect project.
This brings up the essential need of the Living Lab community: knowledge. It was also one of the conclusions at the end of this Living Lab Summer School. It remains very important to share and pass on knowledge. And even more so to describe the methods used and show the added value. Now that the Europese network of Living Labs ENOLL celebrates its sixth anniversary and the third Living Lab Summer School is a fact, it becomes clear that quite a lot has be reached but there is enough that remains to be researched. It is very positive news that there is a growing interest in the idea of Living Labs, with Lithuania and Estonia now wishing to establish their own living lab.
