Navarre’s new network of citizen experimentation and collaboration laboratories to present its first project proposals next Wednesday

Next Wednesday, September 16, the Network of Labs for Citizen Experimentation and Collaboration of Navarre will be publicly presented in an event that will take place at 1:00 p.m. in the Pío Baroja room of the Navarre Institute of Public Administration - INAP, in Pamplona / Iruña (Calle Navarrería, 39). During the event, the calls for ideas from the ten laboratories that are part of this first pilot experience will also be presented, as well as a brief presentation of each of them by their promoting entities.

This initiative, activated last May, has been promoted by the Directorate General for the Presidency, Open Government and Relations with the Parliament of Navarre of the Government of Navarre. This is a commitment included in both the II Open Government Plan (2025-2028) and the I Plan of the Government of Navarre for the Open Government Partnership. The objective is to create a network of spaces for community experimentation and collaboration within the provincial territory. The call was addressed to institutions, associations, companies, and collectives interested in setting up citizen laboratories to develop collaborative projects that contribute to improving community life.

What are citizen laboratories?

Citizen laboratories are open spaces for experimentation, collaboration, and collective learning. They bring together diverse people and organizations to identify challenges, share knowledge, and jointly develop projects and solutions.
Their methodology seeks to connect the existing capacities and experiences in a territory and foster collaboration among citizens, associations, institutions, professionals, researchers, and other agents. For this reason, the laboratories do not necessarily start from already defined projects: the calls for proposals now being presented will make it possible to incorporate new ideas and people into the work processes.

Over the last few months, the ten selected laboratories have participated in a support process to define their objectives, challenges, and fields of work, identify potential collaborators, and prepare their respective calls for ideas. Joint meetings among the laboratories have also helped detect shared interests and potential collaborations between them.

Ten laboratories, ten areas of experimentation

The network consists of ten initiatives promoted by both public institutions and civil society organizations. Their areas of work reflect the diversity of challenges and opportunities in Navarre, covering fields such as community care and health, childhood and adolescence, culture and heritage, volunteering, circular economy, social innovation, and technology.

Six of the laboratories are promoted by public entities and four by civil society organizations. Most are located in Pamplona / Iruña and its metropolitan area, although the Network also incorporates initiatives from other areas of Navarre.

Specifically, the following citizen laboratories are underway: 

• ‘Recovery of the intangible heritage of Urdiain’, promoted by the Urdiain Public Library, focused on the community recovery of the town's lime kilns.
• ‘Co-creating a Neighborhood Support Network, of the Mancomunidad de Andía’, to strengthen community networks of mutual support and care.
• ‘Stories that Activate: Laboratory of Cultural Responses and Collective Participation’, promoted by the Asociación Cultural Escenika, which explores stage creation and citizen participation.
• ‘CircularLab Navarra, of the Fundación Koine-Aequalitas’, dedicated to exploring the possibilities of the circular economy for social inclusion and the generation of employment opportunities.
• ‘Citizen laboratory for the right to grow up in a family and community’, promoted by the Asociación Magale, focused on prevention, awareness, and support for foster families.
• ‘Plaza On’, from the Pamplona City Council, oriented toward creating and strengthening volunteer and community collaboration networks in the neighborhoods.
• ‘Hiriartea’, also promoted by the Pamplona City Council, focused on developing a cultural mediation and citizen participation process around the Citadel.
• ‘VidAAs Sarriguren Citizen Lab: Community innovation and technological experimentation’, promoted by VidAAs, which seeks to connect technological innovation, social innovation, and community participation.
• ‘REDES. SAREAK’, driven by the Government of Navarre, to strengthen community care networks in Tierra Estella.
• ‘Health from the perspective of childhood and adolescence’, promoted by the Department of Health of the Government of Navarre, which seeks to incorporate the perspective of children and adolescents into the design of health-related initiatives and policies.

A network to experiment and collaborate

The presentation on September 16 marks the beginning of a new phase of the project. From now on, the calls for ideas will allow individuals, collectives, and organizations to propose projects and join the experimentation processes of the ten laboratories.

Interested persons can participate in the event after registering through the following web form.

Fuente: navarra.es