Living Labs

Turning research into practice — and practice into knowledge

Altair Media Europe uses Living Labs to bring research, organisations and communities together in real-world environments where new approaches can be explored, tested and improved.

Complex societal challenges cannot always be understood from research or policy alone. They also require experimentation in the places where technological and social change is actually experienced — in communities, libraries, schools, cultural organisations, public institutions and other local environments.

Living Labs create that connection between research and practice.

Rather than treating participants only as audiences or research subjects, the Living Lab approach brings researchers, practitioners, organisations and citizens into the development process itself.

From observation to experimentation

Within a Living Lab, partners can explore how people experience technological and societal change, test new learning methods, develop practical tools and evaluate what works in different local contexts.

This creates an iterative process in which insights from practice can inform research, while research can support new approaches in the field.

Explore → Co-develop → Test → Reflect → Improve → Share

The aim is not simply to implement a predefined solution, but to learn together and adapt approaches to different communities, institutions and cultural contexts.

MediaAwareEU Living Labs

Within MediaAwareEU, Living Labs provide environments where citizens can explore how digital platforms, algorithms and artificial intelligence influence the information they encounter online.

Libraries, educational organisations, community networks and other local partners can provide accessible settings in which participants examine their own information environments and experiment with practical media literacy approaches.

These local experiences can then contribute to the further development of methodologies, educational materials and European research.

A European network of learning environments

Living Labs can operate locally while contributing to a wider European learning network.

By connecting experiences across countries and communities, Altair Media Europe and its partners can compare approaches, identify common challenges and understand how methods need to adapt to different social, cultural and institutional settings.

Over time, Living Labs may support collaborative programmes in areas such as:

Media literacy and digital citizenship — understanding platforms, algorithms and information environments.

Democracy and civic resilience — exploring how communities navigate changing forms of public communication and participation.

Education and skills — developing learning approaches for technological and societal change.

Culture and participation — testing creative methodologies that connect culture, community and social development.

European collaboration

Living Labs can form part of collaborative research, innovation and education programmes developed with universities, public organisations, civil society, cultural institutions and community partners across Europe.

They provide a practical bridge between European research, local experimentation and wider dissemination, allowing new approaches to be developed with the people and organisations that may ultimately use them.

A Living Lab is not simply a place where ideas are tested. It is a place where knowledge is created together.