Bristol Living Lab

The mission of the Living Lab is “Shaping fairer futures with arts, tech & care”. Bristol Living Lab is run by Knowle West Media Centre (KWMC), a UK based non-profit arts organisation with 29 years’ experience of working with communities and individuals to understand how creativity and digital technologies can be utilised to meet local needs and address system change. It is a community based ‘enabler-driven’ Living Lab: KWMC acts as a ‘broker’ between citizens and organisations, ensuring that each participant in a particular project is able to contribute their knowledge and experience. KWMC adopts an ‘action research’ approach, where continual reflection and evaluation are built into the working process, and this enables KWMC to be flexible and responsive to the changing needs of partners and communities. KWMC are experts at embedding arts, artists and creative approaches to all stages of a living lab process. It has a wide range of citywide, regional, and international networks that it actively works with and takes a ‘Commons’ Approach to sharing knowledge and learning.

Areas of work:

• Culture and Creativity (Creative Sectors)
• Education and/or Vocational Training
• Emerging Technologies (e.g. AI, AR/VR)
• Energy
• Environment/Climate Change
• Health and Well-being
• Smart Cities and Regions
• Social Innovation and Inclusion
• Urban