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5.3. Digital Crossroads: Discover, Test, Make Together, France
CASES ANALYSIS REPORT: EUROPEAN ENTREPRENEURSHIP OPPORTUNITIES
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Title
Société d'Impact Sociétal - SIS, Social Impact Company
Place
Esch sur Alzette, Luxembourg Organisation Facilitec co-working space Description Facilitec began occupying its current location approximately three years. It is first and foremost a collaborative space. In the context of public vs. private spaces, Facilitec is considered a ‘Third Place’... anchored in its territory, comanaged and co-constructed by the collective intelligence of its participants. Neighbours, entrepreneurs and craftspeople worked together to build and conceptualize or ‘gestate’ its use, together. This means that there is a fluidity to the space that grew up in response to the needs of the users. In its current iteration, the three major ‘rooms’ consist of a workshop for the FabLab, a common space that includes a kitchen, an open plan social space with a small outdoor terrace and finally another open plan meeting room for quieter work and meetings. In Luxembourg a space like this, defined as ‘...between work and home’, is unique. In addition to its ‘Third place’ status, what makes this space particularly interesting is also the method of construction. The building has been co-renovated with participatory construction practices and the majority of materials and supplies are upcycled. Facilitec utilizes the sociocratic, or dynamic, governance system to achieve the co-creative and collaborative gestation of the space. This governance system is the foundation from which the entire ecosystem of initiatives is supported by CELL (the Center for Ecological Learning in Luxembourg). Success factors Facilitec was chosen as an example of a social enterprise in Luxembourg for its ongoing success in conceptualizing, organizing and constructing a space that is reflective of the current users' needs. This system has allowed for a variety of users (neighbours, entrepreneurs and craftspeople) to participate in a way that builds upon itself and provides a foundation for the strong and continuous growth of the community. Special attention to the interior design and layout of the shared space has also proven to be influential in supporting the success of the space. The selection of upcycled supplies, appliances and furniture that was deliberate and sensitive to a modern feel supports the belief that upcycled does not always need to result in a vintage look. Finally, the success in finding a location that fits the specific limitations and requirements of this initiative in Luxembourg is not to be underestimated. Facilitec currently enjoys a beneficial relationship with the current owners and the ability to design the interior from the walls inward, is supported and quite unusual. Challenges The location Facilitec had been unoccupied for several years: 1. Public engagement and education
Inspiring overcome
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CASES ANALYSIS REPORT: EUROPEAN ENTREPRENEURSHIP OPPORTUNITIES
2. Collaboration with local and national policymakers and laws to integrate alternative economic practices. 3. Finding a location as well as initiating administrative coordination and designation of space usage 4. Individual initiatives within Facilitec face these same issues at a different scale. The systemic connection to REconomy, Transition Minett and CELL provides a strong countrywide support system that collectively addresses the education of the public in Luxembourg about effective alternative options that the circular economy model provides. Co-creative space building enables solutions based on actual user needs. A strong commitment to the community-centred, organizational framework allows for a creative solution space that is sensitive to challenges faced collectively and individually. https://facilitec.lu/, https://www.reconomy.lu/, https://www.cell.lu/
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CARREFOUR NUMÉRIQUE² DÉCOUVRIR, TESTER, FABRIQUER, ENSEMBLE (DIGITAL CROSSROADS² DISCOVER, TEST, MAKE, TOGETHER) Paris, France Organisation Universcience / Cité des Sciences et de l’Industrie (City of Sciences and industry) Description Born in December 2009 under the presidential impulsion, “the Établissement public du Palais de la découverte et de la Cité des sciences et de l'industrie, also known as Universcience as of January 2010, is a public establishment of an industrial and commercial nature (EPIC), placed under the dual supervision of the Ministry of Higher Education, Research and Innovation and the Ministry for Culture.” In particular, its Cité des Sciences et de l’Industrie branch provides several opportunities to explore and develop scientific competencies and technical skills with the fablab, and the living lab hosted in the CARREFOUR NUMÉRIQUE², in addition to permanent and temporary scientific and technical exhibitions, workshops, conferences and seminars. Many activities are specifically dedicated to kids and students to raise their interest in scientific and technical matters. Unemployed people and startuppers are
CASES ANALYSIS REPORT: EUROPEAN ENTREPRENEURSHIP OPPORTUNITIES
addressed too in partnership with Pôle employ, the National Agency for Employment, and with different initiatives dedicated to promoting and supporting entrepreneurship. Success factors Since its beginning the CARREFOUR NUMÉRIQUE² represented the most innovative and participative area of the Cité des Sciences et de l’Industrie offer. Completely devoted to the diffusion of the digital culture, it has been successfully crowded by a varied population of techno enthusiasts, students and ordinary people that just wanted to learn more about new trends, or just wanted to solve their practical problems and looked for directions and support from peers and experts. Collaborative participation in the FabLab has been one of the winning cards of the centre. Moreover, its openness to any kind of public has provided opportunities for disadvantaged audiences to get knowledge and gain experience of emerging scientific and technological trends, and acted as “Firestarter” to promote initiatives open to the general public and not limited to nerds and geeks. The FabLab contributed to creating a maker’s culture where ideas could become concrete through the use of tools, like the 3D printer, that have long been inaccessible in terms of reach (difficult to have in France at the beginning) and price. Peer support and tutoring boosted the participative and collaborative attitudes as well, making co-creation a reality. The living lab, open to experiments that involve people as co-designers in open innovation processes, is another major factor in the success of the CARREFOUR NUMÉRIQUE². What is interesting is that the Living Lab complements the FabLab in the sense that it provides users’ projects with a more accomplished dimension by scaling up from the individual and specific "one-shot” initiative to social impact, and including a business dimension. In this case, the FabLab becomes the prototyping playground where the living lab’s experiments results take shape. This also contributed to the cultural change that fostered the advent of repairing cafés that have been initiated from the bottom, that is from people. Challenges Two major issues have been addressed with the CARREFOUR NUMÉRIQUE²: 1) popularising emerging sciences and technologies among the general public as a way to spread knowledge and develop the competencies that are required in the 21st century and helping France to create a society more ready to face the new millennium challenges; 2) making emerging science and technologies truly accessible to everybody, and in particular to the disadvantaged layers of the population, like the people living in the banlieues around Paris and those who can hardly not only affordable but even just be exposed to the most recent advancements in technology. Moreover, the start of the CARREFOUR NUMÉRIQUE² happened in the turmoiled period of the economic downturn on a global scale.
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CASES ANALYSIS REPORT: EUROPEAN ENTREPRENEURSHIP OPPORTUNITIES
The general unpreparedness against the world-scale crisis of the late years of the first decade of the new century hit France too. The Universcience initiative fell at the right moment and was more than needed. Its openness has allowed to: - anybody to access emerging technologies and scientific results, - talented people to grow their competencies find new ways to deploy them for their and others (for instance, by starting projects at the living lab), - create and foster a participative, open innovation-led and co-creation culture which inspired the start-up of cognate initiatives from the bottom, that is, initiated by the people and not institutions, breaking the silos of technological knowledge that were confined to the institutional and private research lab, or, in the best cases, to isolated groups of geeks belonging to the hackers’ space; - make apparent how scientific and technological knowledge is linked to societal challenges and have an impact in the real world. https://www.cite-sciences.fr/fr/au-programme/lieux-ressources/carrefournumerique2/
CA SES AN A LY SIS REP O RT: EUR OP EA N ENT R EP R EN E UR SH IP OP P OR T UNI T IES
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CASES ANALYSIS REPORT: EUROPEAN ENTREPRENEURSHIP OPPORTUNITIES
