Sister-Projects Joint Webinar on Experimentation Frameworks for Testing Innovations | Recap

As emerging technologies move faster than the environments available to validate them, structured spaces for testing have become essential. Addressing this need, EVOLVE2CARE joined its sister projects FINEX and APROVALS on 2 July 2026 to deliver a joint webinar on experimentation frameworks for testing innovations.

The session brought together innovators, Living Labs, researchers and policy-oriented stakeholders to examine how test beds, Living Labs and regulatory sandboxes each support the validation of new technologies, and how the three approaches connect across an innovator’s journey.

🎥 Missed the webinar or would like to revisit the discussion?

Watch the full recording here:

Experimentation Spaces and Test Beds

David Bigorra, Consultant at Cleantech Group representing FINEX, opened by defining experimentation spaces as controlled but realistic environments where innovators test new technologies before entering the market. He noted this is especially critical for hardware-intensive innovations in energy, cities and industrial processes, where full-scale testing is expensive, risky and often constrained by regulation. He presented FINEX’s four-step methodology — policy workshops, ecosystem mapping, matchmaking and pilot implementation, and learning — alongside its key outputs: a help desk serving as the entry point for guidance, a best practices report, and a resources catalogue listing more than 100 testbeds, Living Labs and sandboxes across six ecosystems. A policy roadmap and recommendations are currently in development.

Connecting Innovation with Living Labs

Anastasia Valtopoulou, Research Associate at iMedPhys, AUTH, introduced EVOLVE2CARE, a five-partner project running from October 2024 to September 2026 and built around transitional care — the safe transfer of patients between environments such as hospital, rehabilitation centre and home. The project matches innovators with certified Living Labs through the AxeLab platform, developed in collaboration with ENoLL, and provided ten vouchers of 5,000 euros to external companies. Its open call generated 44 project requests and 32 bids, resulting in 18 matched Living Labs and companies.

Despoina Petsani, Research Associate at iMedPhys, AUTH, presented the Living Labs framework, drawing on the European Network of Living Labs definition of Living Labs as open innovation ecosystems in real-life environments based on systematic user co-creation. She outlined facility types — single-sited, distributed, virtual and mobile — and three access modes: excellence-driven, market-driven and wide access. Evidence from the EVOLVE2CARE matchmaking showed expert opinion and advisory services among the most requested, alongside participant recruitment, co-creation, proof of concept and usability testing.

Setting the Stage for Regulatory Sandboxes

Alexis Biton, Head of International Affairs and APROVALS Coordinator, described APROVALS as an eight-partner project launched in September 2024 across seven countries, targeting cellular agriculture technologies. Its virtual sandbox, supported by a network hub and a policy hub, offers a governed, confidential space where innovators can de-risk development ahead of — and distinct from — any formal regulatory sandbox.

Towards a Common Pathway

The closing exchange converged on a shared agenda: demonstrating a continuous pathway from test bed to Living Lab to sandbox, and identifying the gaps between those stages. Speakers agreed to continue the discussion offline with a view to presenting joint findings.

Project Session on Policy Recommendations for Transitional Care

On 14 July 2026, the EVOLVE2CARE project will hold the third and final workshop in its series on regulatory barriers and enablers in transitional care. Titled “Finalisation of Policy Recommendations on Regulatory Barriers and Enablers in Transitional Care,” the online session will run from 14:30 to 16:00 (Brussels time) and mark a key milestone in the project’s work to support HealthTech innovation in integrated health and care systems.

Transitional care remains a critical component of integrated health and care systems, particularly in meeting the needs of individuals with complex and long-term care requirements. The two previous workshops in this series, held in February and March 2026, explored the regulatory landscape affecting transitional care innovation. Those sessions brought together innovators, Living Labs, researchers, and policymakers to identify key barriers, enabling factors, and emerging lessons from policy and practice across different contexts, drawing on collaborative exercises and a dedicated regulatory learning survey.

Building on these discussions, the third workshop will shift the focus from analysis to action. Rather than revisiting the challenges already mapped, participants will work together to translate the insights and evidence gathered so far into concrete, actionable policy recommendations. The aim is to support the implementation and scaling of innovative transitional care solutions, ensuring that the project’s findings reach those best placed to enable change.

The session will open with a welcome and introduction led by Francesca Sperandio of the European Network of Living Labs (ENoLL), followed by a recap of the regulatory barriers and enablers in HealthTech innovation identified during earlier sessions. The core of the workshop is a sixty-minute co-creation segment dedicated to finalising the policy recommendations, facilitated by Despoina Petsani of the Aristotle University of Thessaloniki (AUTH) and Martina Desole of ENoLL. A wrap-up covering the agreed next steps will close the meeting.

The findings from this workshop, together with the outcomes of the previous sessions, will be synthesised into a comprehensive report aimed at guiding policy makers in enabling and promoting transformative innovation more effectively. In doing so, EVOLVE2CARE continues its effort to bridge the gap between innovation and implementation, working towards a more responsive regulatory environment for the future of healthcare. This final session builds directly on the collaborative momentum established across the series, closing the loop between the barriers first identified and the practical measures needed to address them.

Sister-Projects Joint Webinar on Experimentation Frameworks for Testing Innovations

As emerging technologies continue to evolve rapidly, creating safe and effective environments to test them is crucial. To address this industry need, a live external webinar titled “Experimentation frameworks for testing innovations” has been scheduled. This collaborative event is jointly hosted by three EU-funded sister projects: EVOLVE2CARE, FINEX, and APROVALS.

What to Expect

The webinar is designed to present a comprehensive action plan for implementing test environments. Specifically, it will focus on how to utilize regulatory sandboxes, living labs, and test beds to evaluate the potential of new and emerging technologies.

To provide a structured approach, expert speakers will analyze each of these three frameworks across several critical dimensions. These dimensions include:

  • Infrastructure & Physical Resources
  • Programs & Services
  • Stakeholder Engagement & Policy

Webinar Agenda and Featured Speakers

Attendees can look forward to a highly focused, step-by-step agenda designed to maximize value.

  • Welcome (5 mins): A brief opening to kick off the session.
  • Introduction to the Sister Projects (10 mins): A short introduction featuring Anastasia Valtopoulou, Research Associate at iMedPhys, AUTH (EVOLVE2CARE), alongside representatives from FINEX and APROVALS.
  • Experimentation Spaces & Test Beds: Presented by David Bigorra, Consultant at Cleantech Group representing FINEX.
  • Living Labs: Presented by Despoina Petsani, Research Associate at iMedPhys, AUTH, representing EVOLVE2CARE.
  • Regulatory Sandboxes: Presented by Alexis Biton, Head of International Affairs and APROVALS Coordinator.
  • Interactive Q&A: The event will conclude with a dedicated time for audience questions.

Event Details and Registration

The EVOLVE2CARE, FINEX, and APROVALS project teams look forward to welcoming you to an insightful session on advancing innovation through structured experimentation.

  • Date: July 2, 2026
  • Time: 16:00 CEST / 4:00 PM CET
  • Registration: Please secure your spot and receive the meeting link by registering online.

You can complete your registration via the official Zoom link here: https://authgr.zoom.us/meeting/register/RjL57wDAQxGEBvrTUQajwQ.

EVOLVE2CARE and DataPACT Webinar on Legal Compliance and Automated Policies in Transitional Care

As AI systems and digital health solutions become increasingly integrated into transitional care, navigating the complex landscape of tech legislation is more important than ever. Addressing this challenge, EVOLVE2CARE partnered with the Data Pact project to deliver an insightful webinar focusing on the legal implications of Artificial Intelligence (AI) and the automation of regulatory compliance.

The webinar brought together innovators, Living Labs, legal experts, and healthcare stakeholders to discuss how current laws impact health data processing and how new technologies can help automate compliance monitoring.

🎥 Missed the webinar or would like to revisit the discussion? 

Watch the full recording here: 

Connecting Innovation with Living Labs

The session opened with an introduction to the EVOLVE2CARE project’s mission to bridge the gap between stakeholders in transitional care by utilizing Living Labs as a research and innovation enabler. The project utilized the Axelab platform from the European Network of Living Labs to launch an open call, successfully providing 10 vouchers of 5,008 euros to external companies. Through this initiative, Living Labs provided critical services like usability testing and real-world validation, helping companies overcome regulatory and business model hurdles to accelerate market readiness.

Navigating the Intersection of GDPR and the EU AI Act

The webinar’s next featured speaker, Sharon Srirap from the Malta IT Law Association and the Data Pact project, explored the profound legal implications of AI systems. The presentation highlighted the intrinsic link between data and law, noting that AI systems in the healthcare sector rely on vast volumes of sensitive personal data to learn and make predictions.

A central message was the interplay between different regulations, specifically the GDPR and the EU AI Act. While the GDPR targets constrained data use through principles like purpose limitation and data minimization, AI systems inherently thrive on expansive and flexible data sets. To navigate this tension, the presentation emphasized the importance of utilizing synthetic or anonymized data wherever possible and implementing privacy by design and default, particularly when dealing with special categories of health data.

Automating Compliance with ODRL

To bridge the gap between complex legal texts and practical implementation, Paolo introduced technological approaches to automate compliance elements. The discussion focused on the Open Digital Rights Language (ODRL), a machine-readable web standard used to represent usage policies, permissions, prohibitions, and obligations.

Paolo demonstrated how the Data Pact project has developed a comprehensive mathematical semantics model for ODRL, effectively removing ambiguity from policy interpretation. This innovative approach allows systems to evaluate streams of events—such as electronic health records being accessed—against established policies to automatically flag non-compliant actions. By utilizing tools like policy editors and ODRL evaluation engines, organizations can streamline data sharing agreements and evaluate access control requests in an exact and efficient manner.

Preparing for the Future of Digital Health

The webinar demonstrated the immense value of cross-disciplinary collaboration in understanding the evolving regulatory frameworks. By bringing together Living Lab methodologies, legal expertise, and automated compliance tools, the session provided valuable insights for innovators and stakeholders seeking to responsibly design and deploy AI systems in transitional care ecosystems.

New EVOLVE2CARE Joint Webinar Series: “Connecting the Dots in Transitional Care”

EVOLVE2CARE is thrilled to announce our upcoming two-part webinar series, “Connecting the Dots in Transitional Care: Open, Trusted & Interoperable Care.” We are proudly co-organizing this initiative alongside our fellow Horizon Europe projects RAISE-SUITE and DataPACT.

As we continue our mission to standardize HealthTech experimentation practices and enhance the symbiotic relationship between Health and Wellbeing Living Labs and innovators, navigating the complexities of digital health is more important than ever. By subjecting innovations to real-world scenarios through Living Labs, we aim to uncover and address ethical considerations, interoperability challenges, and unforeseen regulatory barriers.

Upcoming Sessions

June 11, 2026, 01:00 PM (Athens Time): Impact and use of Open Science in Transitional Care. Co-led with the RAISE-SUITE project, this session will explore the importance of Open Science for the democratization of data and how this could be practically implemented into transitional care settings.

Featured speaker:
Demosthenis Natsos – Security R&D Engineer, Cyclopt

June 25, 2026, 01:00 PM (Athens Time): Trusted AI in Transitional Care: Ethics, Regulation & the EU AI Act. As AI-driven tools play an increasing role in transitional care—from risk prediction to care coordination—navigating the European regulatory landscape is more important than ever. This webinar will examine the interplay between the AI Act, GDPR, and the European Health Data Space. We will also showcase how DATAPACT project outcomes address these gaps by detailing tools and frameworks for trustworthy AI governance, ethical impact assessments, and regulatory compliance.

Featured speakers:
• Dr Paolo Pareti – University of Southampton
• Tobias Herb – SINTEF
• Sharon Xuereb – Malta IT Law Association (MITLA)

Who Should Attend?

Whether your focus is on Hospital Discharge Management, Remote Monitoring and Home-Based Care Optimisation, or Inclusive Technologies for Aging and Chronic Care, these sessions will provide actionable, evidence-based insights. We strongly encourage participation from:

  • Innovators (Startups, SMEs, Researchers): Learn how to navigate regulatory complexities, reduce your time-to-market, and fast-track your HealthTech solutions in real-world settings.
  • Living Labs: Discover new ways to standardize services, onboard to the AccelUP platform, and unlock new collaborative revenue streams.
  • Policymakers & Regulators: Utilize evidence-based insights from real-world experiments to inform future healthcare policies.
  • Accelerators & Investors: Witness the impact of compliant, real-life tested innovations to identify prime investment opportunities.
  • End-Users (Care units, hospitals, patients, caregivers): Share your experiences to help shape user-friendly innovations that truly enhance patient care and streamline workflows.

Register today to secure your spots at https://authgr.zoom.us/meeting/register/mgbILJS3SxCF_YwCcYs91Q#/registration

Measuring impact & Evaluating success: A recap of the final training session for Living Labs

Home
Tag Archives: webinar

The sixth and final webinar of the EVOLVE2CARE Training Series for Living Labs took place on 19 September 2025, with a focus on measuring impact and scaling pilots. This session, titled “Measuring Impact & Evaluating Success”, was led by Prof. Dr. Dimitri Schuurman, Senior Research Strategist at the European Network of Living Labs (ENoLL).

Key takeaways from the session

Understanding Living Lab characteristics

Prof. Schuurman emphasized the core elements that define a Living Lab, which include:

  • Multi-stakeholder: Living Labs engage a diverse group of stakeholders, including researchers, businesses, governments, and end-users. This broad collaboration ensures that innovation is inclusive and relevant to all parties involved.
  • Active user involvement: Ensuring the continuous feedback of users throughout the innovation process, from idea generation to final implementation.
  • Orchestration: Orchestration refers to the strategic coordination of all actors in the Living Lab. By aligning the interests and expertise of different stakeholders, Living Labs facilitate effective collaboration and drive the innovation process forward.
  • Co-Creation: Involving all relevant stakeholders in the design and development processes.
  • Real-Life Setting: Unlike traditional laboratories, Living Labs test solutions in real environments, which increases the relevance and applicability of the results.
  • Multi-Method Approach: Each Living Lab adapts its methods based on the problem and stakeholders involved, blending exploratory and confirmatory approaches.

Impact Models and Measuring Outcomes

One of the central frameworks discussed during the session was the Impact Model. This model is essential for understanding how to track the effectiveness of Living Labs over time. It incorporates the Theory of Change, which categorizes results into:

  • Input: Resources and efforts that go into the project.
  • Process: The activities and interactions that drive the project forward.
  • Output (Short-Term): Direct deliverables and tangible results produced immediately after implementation.
  • Outcome (Medium-Term): The effects of those outputs on the targeted stakeholders or systems.
  • Impact (Long-Term): The ultimate, lasting change or influence of the project, contributing to broader societal goals.

This model helps Living Labs track not just the immediate outputs, but also the long-term impacts, offering a roadmap for continuous improvement.


Living Lab Assessment Method


To effectively evaluate the impact of Living Lab projects, the Living Lab Assessment Method was introduced. It is designed to measure the effectiveness across six key areas:

  • Skill Capacity Enhancement
  • Instrumental Capacity Enhancement
  • Network Capacity Enhancement
  • Knowledge Capacity Enhancement
  • Agenda Setting
  • Real Solution Generation

These indicators are critical for understanding how well a Living Lab is contributing to innovation and systemic change in its targeted sector.
A heartfelt thank you to all participants who joined us for the six-part EVOLVE2CARE Training Program for Living Labs led by ENoLL from June to September 2025. Your engagement and contributions made this series a great success. In the coming weeks, all the session recordings will be made available at the ENoLL Living Labbers Academy, so you can revisit the valuable insights shared throughout the program. We look forward to continuing the journey of innovation with you!

What makes a Living Lab official? Highlights from the 5th webinar

Home
Tag Archives: webinar

On September 10, 2025, the EVOLVE2CARE Training Series for Living Labs continued with its fifth session, focusing on one of the most defining aspects of Living Labs: certification and standardization. Delivered by Gabriella Quaranta and Alessandra Tricarico of the European Network of Living Labs (ENoLL), the session unpacked not only the why of certification, but also the how—from evaluation frameworks and tools, to good practices and lessons learned.

Why certification matters

As Gabriella Quaranta explained, ENoLL certification for Living Labs is widely regarded as a global standard for user-driven innovation, reflecting a structural and methodological assessment of their maturity as an innovation ecosystem.

Harmonization: What is it?

A central theme of the session was harmonization. Gabriella Quaranta highlighted that ENoLL has developed a structured and comprehensive system to assess the maturity, sustainability, and impact of Living Labs. By harmonizing evaluations, ENoLL ensures consistency and quality assurance, while also providing guidance for improvement, enabling global collaboration, transparency, and accountability, and strengthening long-term sustainability.

This harmonized evaluation framework is built around six evaluation chapters, covering:

  • Strategy: Examines macro-level issues such as multi-stakeholder participation, the orchestration role of the Living Lab, collaboration strategies, and its overall business model.
  • Users & reality: Looks at collaboration with users, levels of engagement, and participation, with emphasis on iterative processes in real-life contexts and the correct use of tools and methods.
  • Operations: Evaluates how a Living Lab manages its operations, including infrastructure, equipment, and human resources.
  • Openness: Reviews the openness of processes, partnerships, and projects, as well as practices for feedback and intellectual property protection.
  • Value & Impact: Focuses on the development of co-created values and the identification of impact clusters generated by the Living Lab for its stakeholders.
  • Stability & Scale-up: Assesses financial and organizational stability, long-term sustainability, and the replication of strategies and practices across ecosystems.

Together, these chapters translate into 15 evaluation criteria, forming the backbone of certification.

Tools for Evaluation: Self-assessment and qualitative application

Certification is supported by two complementary tools, as Alessandra Tricarico pointed:

Self-Assessment Tool: A quantitative instrument that allows Livin Labs to assess their maturity and sustainability and following that gives them a customized evaluation report.

Qualitative Application Form: A narrative-based tool where applicants describe governance structures, business plans, internal and external communication, human resources, projects, available equipment and infrastructure, innovation partnerships and processes, and ownership of results. It is limited to 20 pages (plus annexes) and allows supplementary materials. Here, evaluators look not only at facts but also at the story of the Living Lab’s vision and practice.

By combining these two, certification captures both hard data and contextual insights, ensuring fairness, depth, and comparability.

Tips & good practices

To help applicants succeed, the speakers shared practical advice drawn from years of experience evaluating Living Labs:

  • Spend enough time preparing a proper assessment and compiling all supporting material.
  • Start working in advance, avoiding last-minute submissions.
  • In the qualitative application form, answer each question, keep responses to one page (excluding visuals), and ensure all documents are in English.
  • Provide a clear explanation of governance structures.
  • Prepare a business plan that transparently presents future strategies.
  • Detail human resources, specifying who is involved, in what roles, and with what expertise.
  • Describe equipment and infrastructure, emphasizing availability and access.
  • Highlight collaboration strategies, showing how diverse stakeholders are engaged beyond single-project contexts.

These tips underscored the importance of thoroughness, clarity, and forward-looking planning in the application process

What’s next?

The EVOLVE2CARE Training Series will conclude with its final webinar: “Measuring Impact & Evaluating Success” on September 24, 2025, at 15:00 CEST. This closing session will guide participants in defining key performance indicators (KPIs), assessing service design, and measuring the broader impact of Living Lab activities.

Register here

How HealthTech innovators can fundraise with confidence

Home
Tag Archives: webinar

The fifth session of the EVOLVE2CARE Training Series for HealthTech Innovators and Researchers took place on 4 September 2025, delivering a deep and practical dive into the realities of startup fundraising. Led by Adriane Thrash, the session “Fundraising & Pitching: An Investor’s Guide” offered a no-nonsense guide to what investors actually look for—and how innovators can meet those expectations with clarity, strategy, and confidence.

One of the core themes of the session was understanding the different types of investors and what each brings to the table. Adriane Thrash broke down the key categories:

  • Angel Investors: Often the first to believe in a startup, angel investors typically invest at early stages. They are usually more flexible and founder-friendly but offer limited capital and may not always bring sector-specific expertise.
  • Venture Capitalists (VCs): VCs look for high-growth potential and scalability. They expect aggressive expansion, clear exit strategies, and strong returns. Their involvement often comes with structured oversight and performance expectations.
  • Corporate Investors: These investors seek strategic alignment with their own business goals. They may offer more than capital—such as access to distribution channels, technical resources, or regulatory support—but their priorities may shift based on internal strategy.
  • Impact Investors: Focused on measurable social or health outcomes alongside financial returns, impact investors are particularly relevant in HealthTech. They value mission-driven innovation and often require robust impact metrics.
  • Public funding sources: These include grants, subsidies, and innovation programs from national or EU-level institutions. While non-dilutive and mission-aligned, public funding often comes with strict eligibility criteria, reporting obligations, and longer timelines. Innovators must be prepared to demonstrate societal value, policy alignment, and long-term sustainability.

Choosing the right type of investor is as important as securing the funding itself.

Fundraising is a strategy, not serendipity

Adriane Thrash emphasized that fundraising is not about luck or charm—it’s about building a strategic plan that aligns with your startup’s stage, goals, and long-term vision. Innovators must understand their business fundamentals and be able to communicate them effectively.

Know your numbers — and your market

Investors want facts. That means knowing your TAM (Total Addressable Market), SAM (Serviceable Addressable Market), SOM (Serviceable Obtainable Market), your projected growth, your burn rate, and your financial runway. 

Transparency builds trust

One of the most important lessons: don’t hide problems. Investors are not deterred by challenges—they’re deterred by surprises. Be upfront about risks, gaps, and what you’re still figuring out. A founder who can clearly articulate both strengths and weaknesses earns credibility.

Pitching is communication

A strong pitch is built on clarity, confidence, and relevance. Adriane Thrash encouraged innovators to focus on storytelling—connecting the problem, solution, team, and market in a way that resonates. Avoid jargon, be concise, and tailor your message to the investor’s perspective.

Prepare for due diligence

Fundraising doesn’t end with the pitch. Adriane Thrash highlighted the importance of being ready for due diligence—the process where investors validate your claims, assess risks, and examine your operations. Innovators should have their data room organized, with financials, legal documents, team bios, and product details ready to share.

What’s next?

The final session of the EVOLVE2CARE Training Series for HealthTech Innovators and Researchers, titled “Measuring Impact & Scaling Pilots — Driving Evidence-Based Growth in Living Labs,” will take place on 19 September 2025 at 15:00 CEST. It will focus on helping innovators define success through SMART metrics, design effective pilot evaluations, and use data to demonstrate real-world impact. Led by Despoina Petsani, ThessAHALL Project Manager at AUTH, the session will guide participants in generating the kind of evidence that funders, policymakers, and partners require to support and scale innovation.

Register here

Communication as the engine of innovation in Living Labs

Home
Tag Archives: webinar

The fourth session of the “Trainings on Service Design for Living Labs,” held on September 3, 2025, focused on building innovation networks and engaging stakeholders in meaningful ways. Titled “Building Innovation Networks: Communication and Engagement”, the webinar brought together four speakers who shared practical cases, conceptual frameworks, and tools for stakeholder engagement within Living Lab ecosystems.

Clara Garcia Blanch, Pilot Test Manager at the Social Digital Lab (Suara), opened the session with practical reflections on identifying and engaging stakeholders in co-creation processes. She stressed that while visible actors are crucial, hidden stakeholders often influence project outcomes in unexpected ways. Drawing from her experience, she underlined the importance of mapping, listening, and uncovering less obvious contributors in order to design inclusive and sustainable innovations.

Leen Broeckx, Panel Manager at LiCalab, presented how her organization structures stakeholder engagement in health and care innovation. LiCalab operates test environments involving citizens and care professionals, drawn from its own database, in real-life settings, and works in close collaboration with hospitals, residential care centres, and home care services. Leen explained how their stakeholders are categorized into internal and external, how their stakeholder analysis uses approaches such as power/interest grids to position actors and design suitable engagement activities. She described the identifying needs process, which includes workshops, expert interviews, and inspiration sessions. As an example, she presented the “Orion” dementia care case, where staff and users tested smart technologies such as bed sensors and smart lamps.

Marta I. De Los RĂ­os White, representing the European Network of Living Labs (ENoLL), provided the theoretical foundation for stakeholder engagement. She defined categories such as internal vs. external, primary vs. secondary, and direct vs. indirect stakeholders, while clarifying distinctions between stakeholders, users, and customers. Marta also highlighted the role of the Quadruple Helix Model, which positions the public sector, businesses, education and research, and civil society as central actors.

The instructor also shared practical tips and tricks for effective communication with stakeholders:

  • Be transparent: Clear communication builds trust and credibility.
  • Be adaptable: Be prepared to adjust communication strategies as projects evolve and stakeholder needs shift.
  • Ensure accessibility: Consider potential language barriers and disabilities by developing inclusive strategies.
  • Aim for two-way communication: Establish mechanisms for feedback and input rather than one-way dissemination.
  • Be present and responsive: Actively listen to stakeholder concerns, questions, and suggestions, and respond promptly.

Finally, she explained why citizens are essential stakeholders, because they:

  • Align the community’s projects with real local needs
  • Secure people’s long-term support to the community
  • Ensure social acceptance
  • Ensure transparency and accountability in decision-making and community operations
  • Empower people to make informed decisions
  • Boost innovation and creativity, bringing fresh ideas and solutions
  • Stimulate economic benefits for the people, such as job creation within the community

Concluding the session, the focus shifted to the Thessaloniki Active and Healthy Ageing Living Lab (Thess-AHALL), presented by Despoina Petsani, Research Associate at the AUTH Medical Physics and Digital Innovation Lab, showcasing how long-term citizen engagement and structured tools can transform a Living Lab into a robust innovation ecosystem. Despoina presented outcomes from projects such as Long Lasting Memories, showing impacts in cognitive and physical training. She also showcased practical tools: Accelup, a collaboration platform for innovators and Living Labs; PaneLab, a panel management platform; and a methodological guide (partners of experience) for citizen involvement. Thess-AHALL’s work demonstrates how trust, continuity, and structured tools help Living Labs evolve into strong innovation ecosystems.

What's next?

The training series will continue with its fifth session on Certification & Standardization of Living Labs, taking place on September 10, 2025, at 15:00 CEST. This upcoming webinar will explore the essential requirements for certification, the benefits of achieving it, and the international recognition it brings to Living Labs.

Register here

Responsible innovation: Legal & Ethical Essentials for Living Labs

Home
Tag Archives: webinar

The third session of the EVOLVE2CARE Living Labs Training Series took place on August 27, 2025, and focused on a critical yet often overlooked dimension of innovation: legal, ethical, and regulatory frameworks. As Living Labs operate in real-world environments with real users, understanding these frameworks is essential to ensure responsible, inclusive, and sustainable innovation.

The session featured two distinguished experts—Maria Iakovidou, Attorney at Law at the Supreme Court of Greece, LLM in Civil Procedure Law, MSc in Law & Informatics, Data Protection Officer (DPO), who opened the discussion with a legal deep dive into GDPR, consent, and intellectual property; and Dr. Abdolrasoul (Rasoul) Habibipour, Director of Botnia Living Lab and Associate Professor in Information Systems at Luleå University of Technology, who followed with practical insights on embedding ethics into Living Lab design through real-world case studies.

Legal Essentials for Living Labs

Maria Iakovidou opened the session with a comprehensive legal roadmap for Living Labs, covering:

Data Protection & GDPR

Living Labs often collect personal data through sensors, wearables, interviews, and digital platforms. Maria Iakovidou emphasized that GDPR applies whenever data relates to an identifiable person, and outlined the six core principles of lawful processing: lawfulness, purpose limitation, data minimization, accuracy, storage limitation, and confidentiality.

Informed Consent in Real-Life Settings

Consent, Maria Iakovidou explained, must be freely given in advance, specific, informed, and unambiguous—and must be obtained before any data is collected. In Living Labs, where testing often occurs in public or semi-public spaces, this becomes especially complex. She highlighted red flags such as bundled consent, lack of withdrawal options, and overly technical language.

She also addressed the documentation of consent, stressing the need for signed forms or digital tools, and the importance of making it easy for participants to say both “yes” and “no.”

Intellectual Property (IP)

Living Labs frequently co-create innovations with startups, researchers, and citizens. Maria Iakovidou urged participants to clarify IP ownership and licensing terms early, distinguishing between background and foreground IP. She recommended involving legal advisors in drafting collaboration agreements and defining usage rights to avoid disputes later.

Liability & Risk in experimentation and pilot phases

From allergic reactions to data breaches, Living Labs face real risks. Maria advised teams to assess risks before deployment, include insurance and liability clauses, and clearly define responsibilities in case of harm or failure.

Living Lab & Ethics

Dr. Abdolrasoul Habibipour presented a structured approach to integrating ethical and legal considerations into Living Lab design. He explored key principles such as stakeholder engagement, transparency, and real-life experimentation. He illustrated their application through case studies from EU projects like SynAir-G and U4IoT, highlighting practical strategies for managing consent, data protection, IP rights, and liability.

Real-World Case Studies

SynAir-G

This EU project co-developed air quality monitoring tools with children in schools. The ethical challenges were significant: children are a vulnerable group under GDPR, and the app collected sensitive data like health status and GPS location. Dr. Abdolrasoul Habibipour shared how the team addressed these issues through dual consent (parents + children), age-appropriate explanations, and national ethics approvals.

U4IoT

This case supported large-scale IoT pilots in domains like smart cities and healthcare. It uncovered common pitfalls: biometric data collected without explanation, lack of signage in public testing, and unclear data ownership. The team responded by developing GDPR toolkits, user dashboards to increase transparency, and promoting Data Protection Impact Assessments.

Practical Tools & Red Flags

Abdolrasoul Habibipour introduced a Living Lab Ethics Checklist covering seven key areas: data protection (GDPR), informed consent, IP, risk and liability, inclusion and vulnerability, transparency and communication, and ethics integration in design. He encouraged teams to use this checklist at every stage—from kickoff to pilot launch—and to normalize ethical reflection in team meetings.

What’s next?

The Living Labs Training Series continues with the fourth session: “Building Innovation Networks: Communication and Engagement”, taking place on September 3, 2025, at 15:00 CEST. This session will focus on the importance of building strong innovation networks and effective stakeholder engagement within Living Labs. Participants will learn how to engage stakeholders in service design, with a particular focus on the Accelup platform. 

Stay tuned—and remember, attending at least 4 out of 6 sessions earns you a Certificate of Attendance from the EVOLVE2CARE project!

Register here