Diedrich Sandbox
The Nürtingen Living Lab
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Our partners include:
- Bunte Beete, an edible landscapes initiative in Nürtingen.
- The Hoelderlin Project, a permanent partnership between the university and the municipality, which acts as an open platform for community change.
- Nürtingen city hall.
Who is Involved?
- Staff, students (Bsc, Msc, MA, PhD) and volunteers from the university
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Main Theme of the Living Lab
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Methods
As part of the official projects steered by the city administration, who already have a trusting relationship with many communities and stakeholders, was and is a great benefit to us. Next to that, we try to speak with inclusive language, actively listen, take all citizens equally seriously and use creative methods for interesting the public in the ideas generated by the lab.
As we have a number of goals within the scope of the project, and a very diverse community to engage, we are sure to utilize a number of different methods to work towards the aim of the Living Lab. Below, is a list of the types of interventions our students teams used in the 2020 Living Lab in the Klein-Tischardt neighborhood.
Project Impacts
- Project Managers: We're learning a lot and gaining more confidence in the process, realizing that this is a long-term process and that we have to be patient. It's important to always keep on going.
- Colleagues: Three colleagues worked more closely with me over the summer and everyone found the engagement with the community very enriching.
- Students: They were really proud of themselves and created excellent output, but they missed face to face engagement with the community. They also experienced conflicting values and critical voices, which were also an important lessons to take away.
- The Community: The community is still very diverse and fragmented and it's hard for them to get self-organised. We are working on it.
Project Location & Dissemination
Location of the Living Labs in Nürtingen include the Klein-Tischardt district in 2020, and the Braike district in 2021.
- Social media sites - facebook, instagram
- We were given an empty shop to use for a temporary exhibition which is still going on, the shop is on a central square and has two large shop windows. The place was supposed to be demolished, but that plan is delayed, which is why our exhibition is still there.
- Open air exhibition of living lab results on an open space in the neighbourhood from July 10-24, 2020 & posters advertising the exhibition
- Digital presentation of results on July 9, 2020, with community participation
- Press information in the local newspaper, university newsletter and annual report of the university