{"id":482,"date":"2019-03-18T14:38:00","date_gmt":"2019-03-18T14:38:00","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/six.stimulatingminds.co.uk\/?p=482"},"modified":"2022-04-14T09:27:15","modified_gmt":"2022-04-14T09:27:15","slug":"lab-exchange-series","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/socialinnovationexchange.org\/legacy\/lab-exchange-series\/","title":{"rendered":"The Lab Exchange Series"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

Lab.  A word from the science field, that refers to the controlled conditions in which scientific or technological research, experiments, and measurement may be performed. The idea has since been applied in the social and public sector. There has been a lab movement in Europe and the US for the last ten years, both inside the government, i.e. Mindlab<\/a> in Denmark or outside, i.e. MaRs Solution Lab<\/a> in Canada. Recently, the UNDP announced they are setting up more than sixty Accelerator Labs<\/a> all over the world, and ten of them will be in Asia, to re-imagine development for the 21st century.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Earlier this year, in January, international and local public sector innovation practitioners gathered in Hong Kong in the first event of its kind, the Jockey Club MaD Social Lab Symposium<\/a> – Co-Creating the City: Innovating For Impact<\/strong>. In the context of Hong Kong – a divided society with growing resistance to government and the sense of powerlessness in the civil society – the MaD Social Lab serves as a new space for experimentation and, most importantly, dialogue among government, citizens and civil society to work together and re-imagine new public services and policies. Yet, this is just the beginning, what can be learnt from the best practices around the world to up the ante?<\/p>\n\n\n\n

As co-curators of the symposium, SIX and MaD brought together four global experiences of \u201clabs\u201d to Hong Kong: Chelsea Mauldin from Public Policy Lab<\/a> (New York), Carolyn Curtis from The Australian Centre for Social Innovation<\/a> (TACSI, Australia), St\u00e9phane Vincent from La 27e R\u00e9gion<\/a> (Paris) and Rachel Yan from Make A Difference Institute<\/a> (MaD, Hong Kong). <\/p>\n\n\n\n

We had the chance to speak with them at a cosy room in Tai Kwun (the former Central Police Station, now converted into a centre for heritage and arts for the public), a location that seemed appropriate for our conversation about the transformation of public institutions.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

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This is the first in a series of blogs, in which we will introduce the four speakers, the labs they represent and how they\u2019re trying to change the system in their own context. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

The four labs  share a similar interest in public sector innovation and embracing an experimentation approach to pioneer social and public innovation. All four organisations adopt an iterative experimentation process with an aim to hack the system and to create change from different angles and levels. <\/p>\n\n\n\n