The Citizen Innovation Lab is a physical and digital space that aims to empower the people of Limerick to take part, navigate and co-create together to help Limerick become a climate-neutral city by 2050.
The Citizen Innovation Lab, initiated in 2021 and developed through the +CityxChange H2020 project, operates as a collaboration between Limerick City and County Council and the University of Limerick (UL). Located on a temporary basis at the University of Limerick’s new City Campus, on Sarsfield Street in the heart of Limerick city, the Lab includes a Citizens’ Observatory, an Engagement Hub, a digital platform and a programme of events. It is co-located with the School of Architecture at University of Limerick (SAUL) Fab Lab Limerick.
The three distinct physical spaces work together with a digital platform to provide a space for citizen engagement and participation.
- The Engagement Hub is a space for information events and co-creation activities where people can work together to explore local responses to the challenge of climate change.
- The Citizens’ Observatory provides access to digital tools used to gather information useful to Limerick’s decarbonisation process. The Limerick Energy Model model is a digital twin of the city that provides a baseline on energy use and will allow the energy transition of the city to be tracked over time. A crowdsourced mapping tool is available which enables communities to contribute their knowledge of the city responding to particular question posed.
- FabLab is a space for experimenting with new technologies where you can make almost anything. It has a variety of machines and tools that can be used for digital fabrication and to build prototypes.
Through the +CityxChange project the Council has already implemented a series of citizen engagement and participation processes which empower and support citizens through meaningful climate action. In 2021 the Positive Energy Champions Campaign saw 20 Limerick citizens take on the challenge of changing their energy behaviour by taking positive energy actions and sharing their experiences with their communities. The campaign empowered citizens and businesses to take a fresh approach to their energy use and explore behaviour change with their communities. The Positive Energy Champions were able to utilise the digital tools developed within +CityxChange such as the Limerick Energy Model and Community Mapping Tool to engage with their communities and better understand their energy use.
To find out what's happening in The Citizen Innovation Lab check out www.citizeninnovationlab.ie
For inquiries please contact us on info@citizeninnovationlab.ie