Mari Mehtälä
Projects start and projects end, but what happens to carefully built living lab collaboration when the funding comes to an end? Without a continuation plan, there is a real risk that years of trust-building and cooperation gradually fade away as people move on to new projects and priorities.
Living labs are open innovation ecosystems where research and development take place in real-life environments with real users (European Network of Living Labs, 2025). Their very core lies in the long-term collaboration between companies, users, researchers, and public organizations. This is why continuity cannot be handled with just a brief paragraph in a final report. It must be consciously built from the very beginning of the project.
A network of networks in the Baltic Sea Region
In the Interreg Baltic Sea Region project called Distance Lab, an international consortium of living lab actors has jointly developed a service platform called Distance Lab Hub. This hub is aimed at supporting SMEs and public organizations in developing remote and hybrid operations (Distance Lab Hub 2025). However, the project has never been only about developing tools and services. Its true goal has been to connect essential stakeholders and to build a network of networks, aligned with the EU Strategy for the Baltic Sea Region (European Commission 2012).
Distance Lab has brought together living labs from universities and development organizations across Finland, Sweden, Norway, Latvia, Lithuania, and Poland. The value of this international network goes far beyond individual pilots and deliverables. Significant financial and human resources have been invested in building these relationships, which is why maintaining them is not just smart – it is responsible stewardship of public investment.
Three keys to continuity
Network continuity does not happen automatically. First of all, multi-actor networks need active coordination. In Distance Lab, partners agreed already during the project on a light, shared coordination model. There is also a roadmap for future collaboration, and the aim is to meet twice a year to maintain momentum and jointly explore new initiatives.
But continuity is not only about coordination structures. More than anything, it is about people. Without motivated and committed individuals who want to carry the collaboration forward, no coordination model can succeed. A shared vision and mutual trust matter more than any formal roadmap. This trust is built on everyday collaboration, not in closing seminars.
Lastly, collaboration survives only through new collaboration. The Distance Lab Hub has already been integrated into new project proposals and international development initiatives. It functions as a type of cross-project infrastructure: the more it is used across different initiatives, the stronger the network and the collaborations become.
More of an investment than a project
Distance Lab has been more than a single project. It has succeeded in establishing new collaboration mechanisms to the innovation ecosystem of the Baltic Sea Region. This work has also been recognized at the European level. At the project’s final seminar, Esa Kokkonen, Policy Area Coordinator for Innovation in the EU Strategy for the Baltic Sea Region, stated: ”Distance Lab has been proactive and well aligned with the Baltic Sea Region strategy. This connection will support your results, scalability, and long-term impact.”
Thus, the living lab collaboration built within Distance Lab will definitely not end with the closing seminar. It represents an investment that will start to pay off in the future. Its true value lies in the fact that collaboration doesn’t have to start from scratch with every new project. Partners find each other more easily, and new initiatives are developed more rapidly. When a living lab network is kept alive, it begins to generate increasing returns, just like a well-managed investment should.
Distance Lab project is funded by Interreg Baltic Sea Region.
References
European Network of Living Labs. 2025. What are living labs? Available: https://enoll.org/living-labs/#living-labs. Accessed: 4.12.2025.
Distance Lab Hub. 2025. Introduction to the Hub. Available: https://distancelab.eu/about-us/#about-distance-lab. Accessed: 4.12.2025.
European Commission. 2012. Communication from the Commission to the European Parliament, the Council, the European Economic and Social Committee and the Committee of the regions concerning the European Union Strategy for the Baltic Sea Region. Available: https://eusbsr.eu/wp-content/uploads/celex_52012dc0128_en_txt.pdf. Accessed: 4.12.2025
Mari Mehtälä
TKI-asiantuntija
Centria-ammattikorkeakoulu
p. 050 329 1158
