Retrospective process
The joint ULB and VUB OpenLab initiative has gone through several phases of evolution and development since 2017.
First, it was conceived as a place for researchers and citizens to meet and co-create around the theme of sustainable development. The initiative was part of the joint development plans of the ULB and VUB at Usquare, i.e. EFRO-1 programme, which covered the financing of its infrastructure. The site at Usquare consists of 2 offices (25 m2 each), a meeting room (50m2) and a large multi-purpose seminar and meeting room (110 m2) to host meetings between citizens and researchers.
During the first years of its development, several co-creation activities were jointly organised by members of the ULB and VUB in temporary spaces under the initial name Brussels Open Lab (BROL), and later as OpenLab.brussels. At the same time, the ULB's participation in the CIVIS alliance of European universities and the VUB's participation in the Eutopia alliance took shape. With these two alliances, a strong emphasis is being placed on the development of participatory and citizen-based research methodologies. On the CIVIS side, this took the form of Open Labs, and on the Eutopia side of (1) online learning materials (e.g. Citizen Science Starter kit), (2) the creation of peer learning sessions ‘Citizen Science Clinics’ and (3) a blueprint of a support service for citizen science within the alliance.
Compared to the initial BROL project, the aim of OpenLab.brussels refocused from 2023 onwards on a more specifically research oriented approach: developing a cross-disciplinary support service that can strengthen existing research teams from both universities to deal with the specificities of participatory research, with the aim of serving the entire scientific community and encouraging synergies between the universities in this area. Citizens will no longer be directly involved in the daily management or governance of OpenLab.brussels. However, citizens will be involved as equal partners in the research projects carried out by the academic community that use its resources. In this setup, OpenLab.brussels can, through the support it provides, act as an accelerator for participatory research.
This new configuration will also enable the participation of stakeholders in a broader range of modalities, being more inclusive for various projects. In participatory research, the involvement of stakeholders varies greatly from one project to another, ranging from participation in data collection to much more in-depth involvement in the co-construction of research questions, their processing with potential actions and learnings, and the follow-up of their conclusions. This wide range of involvement is the inclusive definition of the participatory research used by OpenLab.brussels.
OpenLab.brussels is a space dedicated to supporting participatory research. We include in the concept of participatory research any research aimed at the active and conscious participation of field actors, citizens, and/or public or private organizations in one or more stages of research led by or involving university and academic researchers, with the goal of co-producing knowledge and innovation. By blending academic and non-academic expertise, participatory research brings together two needs: enriching scientific knowledge and responding to societal expectations. At Usquare, OpenLab.brussels provides and facilitates a functional space where participatory research activities can take place, open to the ULB-VUB academic community and its partners. In this way, OpenLab.brussels offers a space for reflection and dialogue that enables networking, knowledge sharing, support, and the promotion and recognition of participatory research in the Brussels-Capital Region.
Vision of OpenLab.brussels
The vision of the OpenLab.brussels is to strengthen knowledge co-production in the Brussels-Capital Region. To reach this vision, the mission of OpenLab.brussels is to provide support and knowledge on Participatory Research to our community of researchers and to connected public or private stakeholders to collaborate on participatory research projects in Brussels.
To achieve this vision, we are relying on existing expertise that is dispersed throughout the institutions and on close partnerships with stakeholders who are involved in this type of research. Therefore, we intend to respond to a series of questions:
- Mapping: How do (VUB and/or ULB) researchers participate and organize research projects including components involving participatory research (methods), and with whom?;
- Organizational: How to organise (participatory) meetings and activities with stakeholders, and where?;
- Methodological questions: Which good practices can be identified? How to organise participation around different objectives, and where?;
- Funding and management: Which funding bodies support this type of research? How should issues specific to this type of research be managed?
- Inclusion, diversity and empowerment: How can we foster inclusion, diversity and empowerment in participatory research?;
- Institutional and societal recognition: How to promote research products that differ from traditional scientific outputs and how to deal with difficulty for some colleagues in recognising the uniqueness of this type of research?
In the longer term, the ambition of the OpenLab.brussels is to become an “accelerator for participatory research projects”, with a transdisciplinary base, infrastructures, methods and practices that are part of a participatory dynamic.
Strategic and operational goals of OpenLab.brussels
To achieve this vision, OpenLab.brussels has defined the following operational and strategic goals.
Two operational goals
- Networking: Creation and expansion of a community.
- Experience sharing & knowledge dissemination: Establishment of means for promoting knowledge sharing and capacity building for participatory research.
Two strategic goals
- Recognition of participatory research at various levels: Promoting, within the universities, participatory research as fully-fledged research method;
- Offering a support service to foster mutual VUB-ULB (and in extension members of the CIVIS-EUTOPIA network) project proposals with a participatory research angle.
The specific tasks for each of these goals should be prioritized according to the additional human and financial resources, as well as the opportunities and collaborations that arise within this space; a space that aims to be adapted to the needs of the context and the current social, technological, and ecological challenges.
Networking:
Creation and expansion of networks
- By building an active internal network: creating an (online) research network that can keep in touch via the development of:
- (1) an online platform for exchange between researchers in participatory research;
- (2) an event for VUB and ULB researchers, and their colleagues of EUTOPIA and CIVIS to exchange knowledge on the topic (e.g. Summer/winter schools, symposium (tbd));
- (3) bottom-up peer learning activities by the researchers, supported by OpenLab.brussels staff (following the example of the ‘citizen science clinics’ and/or CIVIS open labs).
- More broadly, by encouraging collaborations between Brussels academics and the CIVIS and Eutopia communities, OpenLab.brussels would constitute a centre of competence for participatory research.
- By developing links between different actors present at Usquare, such as the research centre on Urban and Socio-Ecological Transformations (USET), the FabLabs, etc.
- By considering other actions in this context in the longer term, such as:
- building strong and fruitful external networks: mapping and reaching out to stakeholders (in Brussels) and taking part in working groups, projects, network meetings, webinars and conferences
- facilitating networking with other participatory research hubs, expert, researchers and supporting staff working reflectively on participatory research and citizen science itself, on a European scale under the aegis of CIVIS and Eutopia;
- creating a meeting space for (PhD)-students, academic supervisors, societal organisations and NGOs in participatory and socially responsible research via a Science Shop and /or other projects, for example.
Experience sharing &
knowledge dissemination:
Establishment of means for promoting knowledge sharing and capacity building for participatory research
- by setting up a physical space and infrastructure:
- (1) for organizing activities and meetings with other researchers, aiming at involving stakeholders in the research, for both ongoing projects and projects in (pre-)proposal phase;
- (2) for anyone wanting to discover and interact with the participative research projects at VUB and ULB;
- by sharing knowledge and resources on participative research through different kits and toolboxes (like the Citizen Science Starter Kit), and possibly in the longer term a training offer
- by making a repository available for researchers, for reflection and resources, for finding funding for participatory research, and/or interconnecting to various (institution specific) platforms and resources
- Methodological resources (e.g. (digital) tools for data collection, monitoring, participation and analysis, books, catalogues of best practices);
- Appropriate legal and ethical resources (legal framework, GDPR, intellectual property guidelines).
Recognition of participatory research
at various levels:
Promoting, within the universities, participatory research as a fully-fledged research method:
- by acting as a meeting point for researchers
- by promoting participatory research through raising awareness, sharing resources, and (possibly in the longer term) by organising trainings, etc.,
- by mutually stimulating, encouraging and valorising the VUB, ULB and joint research projects that apply a participatory approach
- by integrating the OpenLab.brussels vision in the structural organization of the universities’ administration and management.
Offering a support service to foster mutual VUB-ULB (and in extension members of the CIVIS-EUTOPIA network) project proposals with a participatory research angle:
- by providing specific support and advice on communication and outreach for a broad audience;
- by communicating relevant project calls for participatory research, and related information sessions and/or workshops.
For project proposals and ongoing projects related to participatory research from individual researchers within the research community that do not involve collaboration between VUB and ULB, researchers can contact the Citizen Science Contact Point (VUB) or Samia Ben Rajeb and Benjamin Wayens (ULB).
OpenLab.brussels will be able to draw mainly on resources that are already available: as well as the administrative and scientific staff of the two universities currently involved in promoting, developing and supporting participatory research. In addition, OpenLab.brussels will also look for additional funding in line with its objectives. Without taking over from the research projects of the two founding institutions, it will thus be able to develop a strong joint framework for participatory research in Brussels which aims to study the way in which this type of research can be integrated into public policies. Being drawn up in partnership between ULB and VUB, OpenLab.brussels would give the resource needed to build and consolidate the knowledge base in this field and to strengthen the operational staff dedicated to the OpenLab.brussels.
Governance
OpenLab.brussels will be run by a management board composed of 3 academic coordinators (VUB-ULB-CIVIS), 3 operational coordinators (VUB-ULB-CIVIS).
Currently, the members who make up the OpenLab.brussels board are Prof. Samia BEN RAJEB (ULB academic coordinator), Carina VEECKMAN (VUB academic coordinator), Eline Livémont (VUB representative), Benjamin WAYENS (ULB representative), Fanny SBARAGLIA and Robin LEBRUN (CIVIS – ULB representatives).
The role of this management board is to:
- define and update the vision and objectives for OpenLab.brussels,
- co-construct the various charters that will serve as benchmarks for the realisation of the actions and objectives of OpenLab.brussels (vision and objectives, terms of use of the premises, etc.), define and frame priority projects to be supported and coordinated in order to meet the objectives of OpenLab.brussels
- monitor the progress of these objectives and their alignment with the vision,
- set up operational working groups to implement these objectives (in line with the resources provided),
- manage the governance of OpenLab.brussels to ensure it runs smoothly (projects / premises etc)
All decisions are taken jointly within the management board, and in negotiation with the advisory board. The management board assigns an advisory board gathering the main stakeholders (researchers, vice-rectors and directors or delegates of the Research departments and International or external relations) from within VUB and/or ULB will be yearly consulted by the “management board” to evaluate the working and the results of the OpenLab.brussels and propose new accents and policy lines.
It is important that the activities of OpenLab.brussels are easily followed by the entire community involved in participatory research. This is why establishing an accessible web platform, through which updates, project calls, toolkits, reference documents, etc., are displayed and/or through which relevant (institution specific) resources and platforms are interconnected, is a priority. The goal is to highlight the various initiatives of OpenLab.brussels, overseen by the board, to ensure the community is maintained, expanded, and to connect all the actors of this transdisciplinary community within the Brussels-Capital Region and its surrounding areas.
OpenLab.brussels monitoring and evaluation
OpenLab.brussels is goal-oriented: objectives and KPIs will be established based on, for example, the number of organized events promoting the dissemination and appreciation of participatory research, the number of research projects with a participatory approach supported by OpenLab.brussels, the number of stakeholders reached, as well as the qualitative lessons learned. This data will be collected annually, based on the ERFD reporting already planned as part of the Usquare project.
Through this unique space in Brussels, the priority would be to expand the community of researchers and participants in participatory research and to widely disseminate shared knowledge. It would also aim to promote, support, and encourage participatory research projects with significant socio-ecological impact, covering various fields such as the economy, employment, climate, mobility, digitalization, and innovation, while focusing on collaboration between private and public services, education and professional training.
