The event brought together researchers, public institutions and practitioners to explore how people-centred approaches can reshape smart city strategies and urban regeneration processes.

A central contribution to the discussion was the presentation of the Bolzano Living Lab by Prof. Richard Lang, Director of the Competence Centre for the Management of Cooperatives, together with Samuele Verucchi, Innovation Project Manager at Cooperativa Sole. Their intervention offered a concrete, practice-oriented perspective on how technological solutions in urban development can be effectively complemented by social innovation through a living lab approach.

The Bolzano Living Lab is part of the Horizon Europe project ASSETS – Advancements in Social Economy through Technological Solutions, launched in autumn 2024. Within ASSETS, living labs are conceived as spaces of interaction that support the development of social economy initiatives while simultaneously testing and promoting tools for social impact assessment, with the aim of encouraging their broader adoption in urban development and regeneration processes. In his contribution, Richard Lang outlined the overall set-up of the Bolzano Living Lab and its strategic embedding within the research project, while Samuele Verucchi reflected critically on social value assessment practices, drawing on insights from current and previous project work at Cooperativa Sole.

In the Bolzano Living Lab representatives from public institutions, the social economy, local communities and research collaborate to co-design inclusive urban regeneration strategies. The Living Lab focuses on collaborative housing as a concrete, community-based approach to urban regeneration, while simultaneously strengthening awareness of the critical role of social impact evaluation. Within ASSETS, this is supported through the application of Social Return on Investment (SROI), developed as a self-assessment mobile tool intended for use not only within the Living Labs but more broadly across the social economy sector.

Overall, the workshop highlighted the importance of citizen centricity in smart city models as a key condition for ensuring that digital transformation delivers inclusiveness, social value and improved quality of life. By connecting research, policy and practice, the event reinforced the value of collaborative governance and long-term social objectives as essential foundations for resilient and sustainable urban development.