On 17 June 2020, Work Package 2 leaders and Living Labs coordinators, met online to prepare analytical tools and activities that will help assess the impact of digitalisation in each of the 20 Living Labs set-up across Europe. The meeting was facilitated by the University of Pisa and KIT-ITAS, presenting ideas and tools such as online surveys and participatory workshops to help Living Labs in organising their activities.
Several challenges arose during the meeting, as presented by Living Labs, when attempting to assess the impacts of digitalisation in agriculture, forestry and rural areas: familiarity with the analytical terms and the concept of digitalisation; conflicting views on digital technologies; lack of statistical data on digitalisation in rural areas, among others. Despite these issues, Living Labs showed enthusiasm to embark on a learning process that will address both theory and practice, technology and science, current and future impacts of digitalisation.
In the next period, Living Labs will work on their assessment and activities as part of DESIRA Working Package 2. An online training is planned for 8 July 2020, after which Living Labs will start a more in-depth data analysis, carrying out interviews, online surveys, and organising workshops related to their focal questions. To move from context to impacts, Living Labs will adopt a system-oriented approach, which consists in the identification of the socio-, cyber- and physical- entities, as well as of their relationships and activities.
See an overview of the 20 Living Labs set-up across Europe on our DESIRA website.
