Innovation Spaces: New Places for Collective Intelligence?

Abstract

Innovate, Innovate, Innovate! Desire for some, obligation of survival for others. The result is a proliferation of proposals aimed at businesses and local authorities in the territories to make them more creative and innovative. Commonly called "innovation spaces", these places (Fab labs, Living Labs, Design Factories, co-working spaces, etc.) encourage the meeting of different stakeholders in order to develop a relational framework of type P-P-P (Public-Private-Population). Innovation catalysts, chameleon spaces, these can take many forms depending on the innovation ecosystem to which they must contribute. However, having physical space is not enough to ensure their durability. This paper is intended as a plea not to do things upside down and fight against the "shoe-horn" or "push architecture" method: physical space is not the aim but a means to improve projects and therefore innovation. Let's create the dynamics before we try to design/reconfigure the places!