7 CO-EVOLVING
7 CO-EVOLVING
Phase 7. Co-evolving- Integrate the learnings from the experiments to the strategic level
This phase is the more high-level or strategic counterpart of step C( ollecting learnings). Through a careful assessment of the experiments’ outcomes, learning can be fed back to a higher, strategic level, for instance when they lead to re-conceptualizing the problem or shift the frame of reference. Meanwhile, also circumstances might have changed, new knowledge emerged, political decisions altered, and focuses shifted. The phase of co-evolving requires to adopt a long-term yet transformative perspective, when assessing these new developments together with the conceptual learning that experiments gave rise to, to ensure that the visions, practice and plans remain relevant in the light of the broader trajectory of long-term societal change.
Tasks to take in this phase could be:
Task 7-1: Evaluate how users react to the introduced experiments and if a change in behaviour compared to the areas outside of the living laboratory Nordhavnen is occurring
Task 7-2: Identify whether the outcomes of the experiments indicate that the initial problem needs to be conceptualised differently, or whether the frame of reference needs to be adjusted in order to tackle the original problem more adequately.
Task 7-3: Evaluate what unintended consequences or reactions are occurring and if they are related to any trends, which have not been included in the strategic considerations at the start Task 7-4: Evaluate if those consequences or reactions can be captured by altering the setup of the experiments Task 7-5: Examine critically if any regulatory barriers prevent to exploit the full potential of experiments Task 7-6: Evaluate if the overall operation strategy for the living laboratory has to be adjusted Task 7-7: Evaluate whether aspects of the mobility system developed under the living laboratory setting have come to a matureness that allows for their diffusion into the broader cityscape
With the completion of phase 7, a first round of the transformative operation strategy for a living laboratory is completed. A living lab approach has become more firmly rooted in a planning practice of strategic navigation, reflection and adjustment, and the first fruits from this approach have already been harvested.
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