Shaping the future of mobility via online participation and co-creation within RealLab Hamburg

Abstract

Sustainable mobility transitions depend on everyday citizens using corresponding mobility offers to bring change to life. For this purpose, a mobility lab approach empowering citizens to develop mobility visions and find user-friendly solutions was created and tested within the urban living lab RealLab Hamburg. It relied solely on online interaction and ensured different user groups were included. Its core participation and co-creation method was design thinking, which was combined with other creative tools. Based on the workshop design and the empirical data from its implementation (N=37 within eight mobility labs), it has become clear that the participation approach appears to be effective by drawing on the concepts of information, consultation, participation, and empowerment. Each of the participation steps generated specific goal-oriented and transformation knowledge that can be taken up in a transition process towards a more sustainable, user-centered mobility system.