Dr. Tuija Hirvikoski, President of the European Network of Living Labs (ENoLL) and Director at Laurea University of Applied Sciences, was awarded with the Innovation Luminary Award for Open Innovation Infrastructure Creation on behalf of the Living Lab movement.

The 2016 Innovation Luminary Awards took place at a special gala dinner at Posthoornkerk, Amsterdam, where six world-shaping innovators, organisations and companies were awarded for their achievements. The recipient Luminaries have been designated by the Open Innovation 2.0 Conference Steering committee for their extraordinary achievements and their potential to inspire the next generation of innovators worldwide.

Over the past 10 years ENoLL has strived to create an open innovation infrastructure that empowers everyone to innovate, co-creating means and value with and for European citizens. Currently with 150+ active Living Labs located across the world, over the past 10 years ENoLL has recognised over 400 Living Labs creating a global community of changemakers and organisations dedicated to radical innovation for ecological, economic and social sustainable development. 

As presented by Bror Salmelin, adviser for Innovation Systems at the European Commission, ENoLL is honoured to have received a Luminary Award and this recognition comes at a special time for the network as 2016 also marks ENoLL’s 10^th Anniversary. In her acceptance speech Hirvikoski highlighted the important role Living Labs play in fostering and improving trust in society as “with the engagement of different stakeholders in the conversation: citizens, scientists, companies, public authorities and policy makers, we can create more trust which is key for the creation of bold innovative solutions.” 

The Innovation Luminary Academy and Awards were established in 2013 by the EU Open Innovation Strategy and Policy Group (OISPG) to celebrate and recognise outstanding innovation role models and through this to inspire the next generation of innovators. The awards honour thought leaders in modern innovation from Academia, Civil society, Private and Public sectors. They are held in tandem with the Open Innovation 2.0 conference, a major international innovation conference which will be attended by over 300 international experts in Amsterdam on the 23^rd and 24^th of May.