ENoLL - European Network of Living Labs

Cities can't get to climate neutrality on their own, and the ALTHEA project is a great example of why.

So much of what makes a city's climate goals possible, energy, transport, water, logistics, actually happens in the region around it, not within the city itself. ALTHEA brings public authorities, businesses, researchers and citizens together across five territories, Milan, Antwerp–Rotterdam, Lisbon, Alicante–Elche and Epirus–Ioannina, to work on that bigger picture as regional Living Labs.

Partners recently met in Milan with three replicator regions, Greater Copenhagen, Gdynia and Aachen, who are looking to bring similar approaches home. And what came out of those conversations felt very familiar to us: everyone is dealing with the same struggles around sharing data, engaging people, and working across administrative lines.

That's exactly why this Community exists, so nobody has to solve these challenges alone.

Read more here: https://enoll.pulse.ly/zfomyhjnld

We're proud to announce that Epaminondas Christophilopoulos, Chairholder of the UNESCO Chair on Futures Research, will be the keynote speaker at OLLD26 this September.

His keynote explores how Foresight can help transform uncertainty and disruption from a source of anxiety into a source of creativity, offering ways to anticipate, question and reframe what lies ahead.

He will also invite everyone in the room to reflect on something bigger: the shifts already happening in our societal values, our beliefs, priorities and expectations. Not just what future is coming, but what futures we actually want, and what values should guide it.

Christophilopoulos has worked in futures research since 2010, including as Chief Scientific Officer for Foresight in the Greek Prime Minister's Office, and currently serves on the European Commission's ESIR expert group.

Has a period of real uncertainty ever opened up something more creative for you than expected? We would love to hear about it in the comments.

Join us in Brussels and Antwerp, full OLLD26 programme here: https://openlivinglabdays.pulse.ly/ykpcqz6doy

How can Living Labs help shape the skills needed for the smart communities of tomorrow?

On 7 July, the SMARCO Smart Communities Skills Partnership officially launches online, bringing together the organisations working to close Europe's skills gaps in designing, testing and scaling smart community solutions.

During the event, you will:
-Discover the SMARCO Skills Strategy
-Meet the organisations behind the new Skills Partnership
-Explore ways to engage with a growing European community working on skills, innovation and Living Lab approaches

🗓 7 July 2026
🕒 15:00–16:30 CEST
💻 Online

If your work touches innovation ecosystems, workforce development or regional skills strategy, this is worth your time.

👉 Register here: https://smarco.pulse.ly/cckryqbn6w
What skills gap is your organisation feeling most acutely right now?

Some of the best conversations at any conference happen outside the session rooms. In the corridor, over coffee, on a bench in the sun.

At OLLD26, we're building that into the programme on purpose.

Garden Talks are 20-minute outdoor sessions held under a garden pavilion in Antwerp, completely unplugged. No slides, no screens. Just a speaker sharing a project, an experience, or a challenge, and a small group listening, questioning, and reflecting together. It's the kind of exchange that feels more like a good conversation than a presentation.

Right next to them, Garden Tools is a hands-on space where you can explore the board games, canvases, facilitation techniques, and participatory methods that Living Labs use in practice. Book a one-hour slot and try something new, or discover what others in the community are building.

Both are available for on-the-spot bookings on Day 1 and Day 2. No sign-up needed, just show up.

Whether you want to share an idea, test a method, or simply sit under a pavilion and talk about what matters, there's a space for you.

OLLD26 runs from 29 September to 2 October in Brussels and Antwerp.
👉 https://openlivinglabdays.pulse.ly/bi6xeyixe6

What's the best conversation you've ever had at a conference that didn't happen in a session room?

In 2011, the Mayor of Başakşehir made a choice. The district, one of Istanbul's fastest-growing at the time, needed innovation infrastructure. He decided not to build a technology park. He created a Living Lab instead, a place where innovators could walk in, test their ideas with real citizens, and find out what actually worked.

Fifteen years later, Başakşehir Living Lab has supported more than 150 startups. One of them built a property management platform now running in 21,000 buildings. Another developed wearable gloves used by nearly every major car manufacturer in Turkey. Another buried smart rubbish bins under the streets, cutting collection costs in half.

Ömer Onur, the Living Lab's Managing Director, will tell you openly that about 85% of those projects did not succeed. That honesty is part of what makes this story valuable.

We spoke to Ömer about what he has learned across more than a decade of co-creation, training over 18,000 people, and building an innovation culture from the ground up.

Read the full story 👉 https://enoll.pulse.ly/pazw1f7cry

What does it really take to build the cities of the future?

Technology is only part of the answer. The real challenge is creating innovation with people, not just for people.

On 25 June, ENoLL joins WMF | We Make Future for the roundtable “Future Conscious Innovation”. Wim De Kinderen, Chairman of ENoLL and Programme Director European Affairs at Brainport Development, will be joined by Gabriella Quaranta, Head of Network at ENoLL, and Asia Guerreschi from Open to Innovate (O2I), in a discussion moderated by Alessandro Montanaro.

The theme is one we think about a lot at ENoLL: when we imagine "the city of the future," we usually borrow the picture from films and books. Cloud City. Metropolis. Wakanda. This conversation goes somewhere more grounded: how co-design and futures studies actually shape the smart societies we are building together, starting with the communities who will live in them.

It is happening live at BolognaFiere, Padiglione 29, Stand C13-D14, from 16:30 to 17:00. Can't make it to Bologna? All our events are now streamed live on our YouTube channel, so you can join from anywhere.

🔗 Watch live: https://lnkd.pulse.ly/cijnjf6wmy

🔗 For More Information: https://enoll.pulse.ly/dg337t6rbs

What do you think the city of the future needs to get right first? Tell us in the comments.

European Network of Living Labs, is organising a high-level policy dialogue that will take place at the European Parliament in Brussels, kindly co-hosted by MEP Mr. Bruno Tobback.

“Living Labs as Strategic Infrastructures for European Policies and FP10: Advancing User-Driven Innovation”

Monday, 29 June 2026, 11:30 – 13:00
Room Spinelli 1G369, European Parliament, Brussels
Rue Wiertz 60, 1050 Brussels, Belgium

The focus is how Living Labs and participatory innovation can become a stronger part of Framework Programme 10 and the European Competitiveness Fund.

Wim De Kinderen, Chairman of ENoLL, opens the discussion. From there, five practitioners share what real-life experimentation looks like on the ground: Alexandra Petcu of UVT Digital and Green Living Lab, Evdokimos Konstantinidis of the Thessaloniki Action for Health & Wellbeing Living Lab at AUTH, Dimitri Schuurman of iMEC.livinglabs, Marta Martorell of Colaboratoris Catalunya, i2CAT, and Josep Maria Salanova of the Thessaloniki Smart Mobility Living Lab. Giulia Campodonico, Head of Unit and SOILL Coordinator at ENoLL, joins them with her own perspective. Martina De Sole, our Director, then moderates a direct conversation with Members of the European Parliament.

It is a rare structure: evidence before policy, practice before framework. We think that order matters, and we are glad European institutions are making room for it.

Here is the link: https://enoll.pulse.ly/ype2qfhzdf

We would be glad to have you with us.
(Reserved to effective members and innovation partners only)

Some of the best partnerships at OLLD26 will not happen on a panel stage. They will happen over coffee, in a five-minute conversation that turns into a project.

That is exactly what the Networking & Brokerage Event is for. On 1 October, from 14:00 to 17:15, ENoLL is teaming up with Enterprise Europe Network and LiCalab to bring Living Labs, SMEs, startups, researchers, and public authorities into one room in Antwerp for an afternoon of speed networking and facilitated matchmaking.

Looking for a new project partner? A real-life testing environment? Access to a new market or ecosystem? This is built for exactly those conversations, and it is open to anyone attending OLLD26, plus external stakeholders who want in.

Joining is easy: when you register for OpenLivingLab Days, just select "Yes" for the Brokerage Event.
One more thing: Early Bird tickets close 29 June. If you have been meaning to register, this is the nudge.

👉 Register here: https://openlivinglabdays.pulse.ly/ooxhmr6fts

What kind of partner are you hoping to meet in Antwerp this year? Tell us below.