The Transformative Social Innovation Lab is launched to tackle challenges at the intersection of research and the socio-economic fabric

The Universitat Oberta de Catalunya (UOC) will launch its Transformative Social Innovation Laboratory (LIST) – OpenLab, the university's new platform for social innovation, on 4 December with its first innovation camp focusing on universal accessibility. The laboratory was created to connect research with the social, economic and environmental challenges facing the region, through collaboration between government bodies, organizations, companies and knowledge agents.

A space to foster impactful innovation

The Transformative Social Innovation Laboratory (LIST) – OpenLab aims “to become a unit to coordinate and support transformative research and innovation initiatives that align with the UOC's strategy”, explains its coordinator, Mireia Riera, Director of the University’s Area of Knowledge Transfer, Entrepreneurship and Open Science (ATECO). It seeks to create spaces for experimentation and collaboration, with the participation of agents from the quadruple helix (government, research, business and civil society). In these spaces, “the laboratory will work to identify emerging challenges and produce responses that have a real impact in areas including food, energy and resources, mobility and logistics, community health, industry, education and the generation of knowledge and culture”, says Riera.

The lab's work will involve thematic innovation camps, mission-oriented projects and collaborative dynamics with local agents.

The first camp dedicated to universal accessibility

The LIST – OpenLab's first innovation camp will mark International Day of Persons with Disabilities. It will be open to the public and take place on Thursday 4 December from 3.30 p.m. to 6 p.m. on the UOC Campus at Carrer del Perú 52, Barcelona.

The camp is being organized by the UOC, the AccessCat Network and the VASS Foundation, and focuses on universal accessibility. It will bring together researchers and representatives from government bodies, social organizations and businesses to explore how to ensure that environments, products, services and technologies are accessible in fields such as the digital, education, art, health or sport.

An initiative that will extend to new challenges

This innovation camp is the first of a series of events that the LIST – OpenLab will be organizing in the coming months. Each event will address major challenges aligned with the UOC's research missions and the region's emerging needs. With this line of work, the UOC is enhancing its role as an agent of transformative social innovation.

Participation in the first innovation camp is open to the UOC community and all regional stakeholders interested in promoting accessibility. You can find the registration form and programme of the session at this link.

This forum for innovation is part of RIS3CAT 2030, the strategy for smart specialization in Catalonia developed by the Government of Catalonia with support from the ERDF Programme for Catalonia 2021-2027, co-funded by the European Union.

Transformative, impactful research

At the UOC, we see research as a strategic tool to advance towards a future society that is more critical, responsible and nonconformist. With this vision, we conduct applied research that's interdisciplinary and linked to the most important social, technological and educational challenges.

The UOC’s over 500 researchers and more than 50 research groups are working in five research units focusing on five missions: lifelong learning; ethical and human-centred technology; digital transition and sustainability; culture for a critical society, and digital health and planetary well-being.

The university's Hubbik platform fosters knowledge transfer and entrepreneurship in the UOC community.

More information: www.uoc.edu/en/research