Open creative labs: Spatial settings at the intersection of communities and organizations

Transformative social innovation and rural collaborative workspaces: assembling community economies in Austria and Greece

Background

Collaborative Workspaces are rapidly growing and evolving across the world. Traditionally understood as an urban phenomenon, most research understands them as either 'entrepreneurial-led', as profit-driven and commercial spaces such as business incubators and accelerators, or 'community-led' as being bottom-up, not-for-profit ventures aimed at catering for the needs of their community. Recent years however have seen their diffusion beyond large urban agglomerations to small towns and villages, with their functions assumed to be more community-orientated. At the same time, social innovation, or social innovation processes have been gaining prominence in academia, policy, and practice, as they address societal problems and hold potential for new forms of social relations. This paper attempts to provide a novel framework towards understanding the transformative potential of rural collaborative workspaces, as they engage in processes of social innovation, by drawing from diverse and community economies literature and assemblage thinking.

Methods

The paper uses international case study comparison between rural Austria and Greece (One case from each country). Methods applied were: semi-structured interviews (N=28), participant observation and focus groups (2).

Results

Community-led rural collaborative workspaces hold transformative potential from i) their ability to assist rural actors with their capacities and realizing their desires and ii) changing individual subjectivities towards collective. Through changing social relations in praxis and perceptions, we examine how social innovation processes through collaborative workspaces can be understood as a means of opening new economic subjectivities towards creating community economies as their transformative potential.

Conclusions

Although rural collaborative workspaces hold potential for societal transformation, they require further institutionalization and support to move beyond the interstitial and symbiotic stages of transformation.

A Systematic Review on FabLab Environments and Creativity: Implications for Design

Fabrication laboratories (FabLabs) and makerspaces are used to transform ideas into tangible products. Used in a design–learning context, they can enhance cognitive and creative skills. Creativity is the pivotal ability to produce innovative outcomes in makerspaces, and several studies have attempted to understand the role of makerspaces and creativity in specific fields. However, a comprehensive study offering a holistic view of the contributions of the makerspaces as built environments that foster creativity is lacking. Therefore, we conducted a systematic literature review on FabLabs, makerspaces, and creativity to address this research gap. While the review was performed using five major databases, only peer reviewed journal articles were considered. The findings revealed that makerspaces help to develop person, product, physical, and social environments, as well as process aspects of creativity. Moreover, makerspaces induce problem solving, collaborative, and communication skills; they also offer appealing environments and technologies for developing creative solutions to real-life problems. We identified and analysed five major themes dealing with technical skills, technological and environmental elements, STEM learning, and skill development, and elaborated upon their importance for enhancing creativity in FabLab and makerspace environments.

Ausgestaltungs- und Anwendungspotenziale von Virtual und Augmented Reality Technologien im Kontext von Coworking Spaces

Coworking Spaces (CSPs) sind geteilte Arbeitsplätze für Selbstständige, Freelancer*innen, Mikrounternehmen und Startups, die Isolation entgegenwirken und zum interdisziplinären Wissensaustausch anregen können. Jedoch existieren auch Barrieren, die Nutzer*innen davon abhalten, zu anderen Coworker*innen Kontakt aufzunehmen, da oft unklar ist, wann und ob jemand zum kreativen Austausch oder zum Anbieten von Hilfe bereit ist. Durch die Covid-19 Pandemie wurde die Unsicherheit bei der gegenseitigen Kontaktaufnahme noch weiter erschwert und viele CSPs mussten zeitweise schließen. Um Barrieren bei der Kontaktaufnahme zu reduzieren und die interdisziplinäre Zusammenarbeit zu fördern, können Informations- und Kommunikationstechnologien eingesetzt werden. Virtual Reality (VR) und Augmented Reality (AR) sind Technologien, die sich durch einen besonders hohen Grad an Immersion und sozialer Präsenz auszeichnen. Deshalb zeigen wir in diesem Beitrag, wie VR- und AR-Technologien gezielt eingesetzt werden können, um den interdisziplinären Wissensaustausch und Zusammenarbeit sowohl in CSPs als auch ortsunabhängig zu fördern. Dazu präsentieren wir positive Effekte, die durch den Einsatz einer der beiden Technologien im Zusammenhang mit CSPs erzielt werden können und leiten konkrete Gestaltungsempfehlungen für Anwendungsentwickler*innen, Unternehmen sowie Betreiber*innen von CSPs ab. Diese Gestaltungsempfehlungen basieren sowohl auf den neuesten Erkenntnissen aus der Fachliteratur als auch auf Interviews mit Expert*innen aus Forschung und Praxis mit Erfahrung im Bereich CSPs, VR und AR. Unsere Anwendungsszenarien können Entwickler*innen, Unternehmen und Betreiber*innen von CSPs als Grundlage dienen, vom Einsatz beider Technologien zu profitieren.

Is ‘co’ in coworking a short for contradictions?

Purpose

Building on the existing literature and on a series of interviews conducted in very diverse coworking spaces, this article attempts at analyzing coworking by focusing on the historical evolution and heterogeneity of its interpretations, as well as the plurality of its realization in practice and prospective developments.

Design/methodology/approach

The theoretical framework adopted is Cultural Historical Activity Theory – a dialectical approach which allows the study of human activities as historically evolving and complex systems which change under the impulse of their inner contradictions. The analysis presented here starts with an overview of the history of the theoretical elaborations and discussions of coworking. The authors then focus on the experiences and interpretations of this phenomenon as conveyed by coworkers and coworking managers in the north of Italy – one of the most active coworking areas in Europe.

Findings

Coworking first emerged as a way of promoting forms of work and organization that require simultaneous, multidirectional, and reciprocal work, as understood in contrast to forms that incorporate an established division of labor, demarcated communities, and formal and informal sets of rules. However, with time, coworking has evolved toward novel directions, giving rise to heterogeneous interpretations of it. Inquiry constitutes a deeper investigation of the heterogeneity of coworking. The take-away message here is that the prefix co- in coworking can be interpreted, through a play of words, to evoke multiple positions and views conveying internal contradictions.

Originality/value

The historical overview of coworking shows a strong differentiation and multisided interpretation of this phenomenon along two dimensions of historical development, namely, social and business, and outward and inward. The qualitative analysis of the interviews traces the different lived interpretations and conceptions of coworking. The analysis confirms, on the one hand, the complexity and heterogeneity described in the literature, and on the other hand, it enriches the literature by depicting the contradictory nature of the phenomenon, including how the historical and inner tensions of coworking are dynamically evolving in the concrete experiences reported by the managers and users in the coworking spaces.

A phenomenon in urban disruption: the emergence of Coworking Spaces in Bandung

Since the emergence of urban planning science at the beginning of 20^th century, urban disruption as innovation is highly connected to the urban planning framework, it goes along in responding urban problem, in conjunction with the civilization development, from innovation in terms of planning process and field survey in the early 20^th century to the use of information and communication technology (ICT) as analytical planning tools in 2010s. The emergence of Coworking Spaces in Bandung, a capital city of West Java where many universities were founded, and a place for youth scholarship and creativity, is an appropriate location to be used as a case study. This paper aims to analyze spatial patterns and linkages with local features, using kernel density and also somer's d association analysis to determine the presence, strength, and direction of the relationship asymmetrically. This is important to analyze the emergence of Coworking Spaces as a part of urban disruption process in promoting city centre vitality while the advance of technology, service sector expansion, liveable building design become primary focus of globally Coworking Spaces discourses.

Social networks in coworking spaces and individual coworker’s creativity

Coworking spaces (CWS) are open creative labs that provide a community-like environment and the necessary surroundings for their users to build and maintain networks with different actors inside and outside the CWS. With a wide variety of knowledge and skills available in trusted surroundings as well as similar value orientations, coworkers enjoy favorable conditions to establish their network-style. However, research has not investigated the benefit of coworkers’ social networks as far as their individual creativity is concerned so far. This paper takes several network characteristics into account: structure in terms of network size and centrality in the CWS, but also trusted and reciprocal relationships, supportiveness, diversity of knowledge exchanged, and the individual openness to core coworking values. Based on the literature on social networks and small group research, we developed a research model. We tested it to get deeper insights into the phenomenon by relying on 113 coworkers in 33 private German coworking spaces. The results show that a central position in the CWS allowing for direct exchange and high individual openness to core coworking values positively affects social involvement and the diversity of knowledge exchanged, and finally, a coworker’s individual creativity. Managerial implications include the vital role of a central position in the CWS for creativity and a somewhat balanced composition of coworkers working alone or in a team.

Co-Creative Learning in Innovation Laboratories Using Lego Serious Play Workshops

Although innovation laboratories offer creative and distinct physical spaces for mediating and directing innovation processes, research on their applicability for co-creative learning during serious play, particularly through Lego Serious Play (LSP) workshops remains limited. Previous studies suggest that serious play workshops tend to focus on scenarios, problem solving and reflective processes, with limited considerations for joint co-creation and learning potentials within innovation laboratories. Motivated by the creative prospects of metaphoric representations and shared stories, this study explores the possibilities of harnessing LSP for co-creative learning in innovation laboratories. This case study draws theoretical insights and practical relevance from a co-creative learning workshop involving three learning scenarios within a Middle Eastern and emerging economy context. Findings from the workshop show variability in representations, interactions and reflections, shaping possibilities for co-creative learning in innovation laboratories. Representations focus on systems, solutions and problems during fragmented, model-supported, model-mediated and integrated interactions that underpin a range of instance-based, variance-based, convergence-based and divergence-based reflections. These insights contribute to co-creation literature that views value creation as an amalgamation of open, collaborative and user innovation. The study concludes by discussing its theoretical implications, practical applications, and methodological limitations, which serve as the basis for future research directions.

Factors influencing members’ knowledge sharing and creative performance in coworking spaces

Purpose

Coworking spaces (CWS) are a globally increasing phenomenon of new shared work environments used by freelancers, entrepreneurs and small companies that often work in information technology and creative industries. The purpose of this study is to examine coworkers’ knowledge sharing (KS), focusing on attitude, behavior and individual creativity. Several theoretical perspectives are deployed for factors influencing KS.

Design/methodology/approach

A research model is developed and tested, relying on a sample of 95 German coworkers using a structural equation modeling approach.

Findings

The attitude towards knowledge sharing and actual sharing behavior in CWS improve coworkers’ creativity. Behavior and attitude differ in positive impact depending on the level of collaboration orientation. Despite the presence of an agreeable atmosphere, lower collaborative orientation results in KS being rated lower.

Practical implications

Community commitment showed the highest positive impact on KS behavior. For community development, CWS will have to take differences in the KS behavior of their coworker client base into account to foster creativity.

Originality/value

The authors provide initial empirical insights into the relationship between KS and creativity in CWS. Core coworking values are shown not to form a uniform block but rather “collaboration” is acting as a discriminator.