Open Lab Athens

Open Lab Athens (OLA) is an interdisciplinary research collective and technology lab focused on promoting participation and knowledge through socio-technical processes of education and co-design. It was founded in 2016 and, by leveraging participatory action research and the principles of the commons, takes part in various research projects, developing methodologies, practical tools, and digital infrastructures aimed at making scientific research more accessible to broader audiences and local communities. Its main fields of activity include Open Technologies, Urban Studies, Education, Local Government, and the Social and Solidarity Economy.

As part of its work, OLA implements projects funded by national and European bodies, in collaboration with municipal authorities, universities, and other organizations in Greece and abroad. One of its current projects is CORPUS: Phygital Models for the Retrofitting of Public Space, carried out within the framework of the EU’s Driving Urban Transitions (DUT) initiative. The project focuses on the development of community laboratories (makerspaces, Urban Living Labs) and participatory urban regeneration processes in Aigaleo and Turin. OLA considers the local community to be a privileged field for the development of social innovation and forms of collaboration that go beyond traditional public–private partnerships. Through alternative models of citizen participation, local communities and municipalities can act as catalysts in the development of “urban commons” and foster practices of direct democracy.

The funding by Co-Fund enables the implementation of a part of the project comprising the development of the community workshop “Skrapelo”, located in a municipal space in Aigaleo, on the ground floor of the sports facilities of the “Stavros Mavrothalassitis” stadium. The funds were allocated primarily to the purchase of relevant equipment—mainly woodworking tools—as well as to the labor of OLA members. The aim is to create a creative meeting space for the municipality’s residents, where they will have the opportunity to construct urban equipment for the Workers’ Housing square through participatory workshops, receive training on the principles of the circular economy, and learn techniques for processing and reusing wood and metal, thereby contributing to the promotion of OLA’s core values.