Lugaritz Living Lab

Within the framework of the Lugaritz supported housing, Matia has launched the Lugaritz Living Lab project.

A Living Lab is an innovation environment focused on the user, built on a real context and research, in which all the interested parties participate in the open processes, with the aim of generating values that are sustainable for all of them.

In this case, the existing infrastructure at Lugaritz is used to design an environment that integrates the products and services necessary to provide a joint response to the different needs and challenges that arise.

It is therefore an open project in constant transformation, which aims to advance in the participation of people in the identification of needs and the design and implementation of solutions to them. Through the inclusion of people and their families in the whole process, a work system is generated aimed at facilitating and minimising the failure of possible solutions that are often inadequate because they do not capture the real and profound needs of people and that, until advanced levels of design, do not detect errors. 

Depending on the field of study, needs and challenges to be addressed, different methodologies and formulas will be used to guarantee the participation of all the groups involved.

The line of research selected to initiate this project focuses on stroke.

The reasons why it has been decided to start with this field are mainly related to its high prevalence and the impact it generates on the people themselves and their families, as well as in the social and health fields. 

As a starting point, an initial diagnosis of the situation of people with stroke was carried out by the Matia Institute in 2021. Based on the results obtained in this study, since April 2023, collaborative work has been carried out with people who have had a stroke, family members and professionals from different fields (social, health, training, research, etc.). 

In this case, the formula chosen for the work has been joint co-creation sessions. 

The aim of these sessions is to identify specific needs and make proposals for innovative solutions that can be implemented in different housing and community environments.

The results of this process will be presented next December, in the framework of a conference aimed at addressing people's right to participation in both research and intervention.