Learning from What Goes Wrong: ENoLL at Urban Future 2026

What happens when you design a session around failure instead of success?

On 25 March, at Urban Future 2026 in Ljubljana, members of European Network of Living Labs’s Working Group on Digital Urban Systems & Solutions for Transition invited a room full of practitioners to openly discuss what goes wrong in Living Labs.

The interactive session, “Everything That Might Go Wrong,” was moderated by Danae Pantelide and featured real-life cases presented by Glykeria Myrovali (CERTH), Yousra Sidqi (HSLU Hochschule Luzern), and Gabriella Esposito (Green Growth Generation).

Together, they presented real-life cases of challenges that often remain hidden behind polished deliverables and success stories.

From governance complexities to stakeholder engagement breakdowns, and from co-creation fatigue to results that prove difficult to implement in practice, the discussion surfaced the everyday realities of running Living Labs.

These are not the stories typically highlighted in reports or presentations, but they are the ones that shape real-world impact.

During the session, the room was filled to capacity. There, participants did not just listen but they actively reflected on their own experiences, shared challenges, and exchanged lessons learned.

In urban innovation, success is rarely linear. Experimentation, iteration, and failure are essential parts of the process.

This session reinforced a simple but often overlooked truth: the most valuable insights come from the most difficult conversations.

A big thank you to everyone who joined and contributed to this honest exchange!