Digital Lab 3.0. Main Concept Image

The COVID-19 pandemic changed the framework of activities in many areas of our lives. Among other things, it pushed organisations and communities to rediscover themselves. Quarantine restrictions greatly affected the work of creative hubs, which faced the urgent need to adapt to new realities trying to find ways of work, manoeuvring between offline and online.

Digital Lab – an online laboratory focused on capacity building. It brings together the Ukrainian creative hubs managers in order to jointly develop practical solutions and share experiences. Digital Lab is also the place to learn about the European approaches and models of hubs management presented by the EU and the UK experts. 

Key focus of Digital Lab: Creative Hubs Managers

  • Create space to exchange experiences and jointly search for solutions;  
  • Present case studies from the EU, the UK, and Ukraine;
  • Forge connections between programme participants;
  • Form a high-quality and meaningful space for online interaction.

As of May 2022, we have organised three editions of the online laboratory. We propose you have a look at their topics:

Digital Lab 1

The first edition of Digital Lab was launched in autumn 2020, only half a year since the beginning of the COVID-19 pandemic. The programme focused on the forced transformation of physical spaces and interaction formats in communities, which were caused by quarantine measures across the globe.

Key topics of the programme:

  • How to ensure the safety of a space? 
  • Do offline activities need cutting down and what should be the balance between online and offline activities? 
  • How to be competitive in a digital space; how to form your unique offer and monetize it? 
  • How to strengthen connections within your community?

Digital Lab 2

The focus of the second edition of the Digital Lab was the search for antifragility of creative hubs. The group of participants researched what pillars help creative hubs to survive in the world balancing between online and offline.

Key topics of the programme:

  • Old/new reality. Transformations of creative hubs during the pandemic year
  • How creative hubs managers can work with online and offline communities
  • Sources of sustainability in unstable context: crowdfunding and other formats of involvement in co-creation
  • Sustainable partnerships: cooperation at the local, national and international level. 

Digital Lab 3

The programme of the third edition of the Digital Lab was based on the materials of Creative Hubs Leaders Toolkit designed by the British innovation agency Nesta. It contained three main thematical blocks that allowed making a complex analysis of a creative hub, its target audiences, products, and operational model.

Key topics of the programme:

  • Building Your Hub Culture
  • Persona development and activities to offer
  • Theory of change and measuring impact
  • Hub business canvas.

For whom?

This programme is for you, if:

  • You are a manager of an existing Ukrainian creative hub, holding a decision-making role. We also welcome creative hubs managers who participated in the two previous editions of Digital Labs
  • Your creative hub works with any/several sector(s) of creative industries
  • Your creative hub operates offline or online. No matter the format, essential is its existing community and contribution toward the development of Ukraine’s creative economy at the local/regional/national level
  • You are interested in the new knowledge/skills/models and willing to connect with colleagues from Ukraine, the EU and the UK.

Your creative hub may be located in any city/region of Ukraine. We would be happy to see a mixture of big, medium and small cities represented among applicants. Programme participants need to hold Ukrainian citizenship.

How does the Digital Lab run?

  • Digital Lab accommodates 20-25 participants
  • Digital Lab consists of six online sessions (sessions take place in the second part of a day and last three hours)
  • Each session features a presentation by the EU/UK speakers, case studies section, and group work around a key topic. The programme starts with the introduction and networking session
  • Working language – Ukrainian. During all sessions, the online simultaneous translation from English to Ukrainian and vice versa is available.

What do the participants get?

  • Opportunity to work with a group of peers representing different types of creative hubs from all over Ukraine
  • Tools to analyze the operational model of a creative hub
  • Ideas for a better understanding of the activities
  • Opportunity to think about the long-term goals of a creative hub and its impact
  • Recent examples of creative hubs work from the EU, the UK and Ukraine, as well as personal recommendations from Ukrainian hubs managers
  • Inspiration to create new products and services
  • House of Europe alumni status (it provides access to alumni community, events and grants).

Partners

 
Digital Lab: Creative Hubs Managers is delivered together with the NGO “Insha Osvita” under the EU-funded House of Europe programme.

Questions

In case any questions appear, please, do contact us via ce@britishcouncil.org.ua.

External links

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