Lab3040: Connect to Innovate
About this good practice
Lab3040 started as a private-sector initiative to connect companies with SMEs and startups to find solutions to sustainability challenges for transforming the Catalan business fabric. Similarly, the Barcelona Metropolitan Authority developed Hubtalent, which links companies facing challenges with those providing solutions. Both initiatives joined to promote collaboration between large companies, SMEs, universities, tech agents, and public administrations to develop sustainable business solutions. Lab3040 enables SMEs/startups to present solutions to challenges proposed by companies, public administrations, and universities. Challenges are jointly selected by the Chamber of Barcelona and the companies presenting the challenges to identify the most relevant ones that meet specific criteria and have a sustainability focus. Lab3040 connects stakeholders through networking activities to foster collaboration and links with the local and national innovation ecosystem. The Chamber of Barcelona supervises the ecosystem and defines stakeholder roles, reviewed with participating companies in quarterly follow-ups. The solutions aim to tackle environmental, digital, and social challenges, such as enhancing recycling, waste revaluation, and improving urban life through micromobility solutions integrated with public transport.
Resources needed
Lab3040 is 80% privately funded through membership fees, with public support from the Barcelona Metropolitan Agency (AMB). It has 13 members and is coordinated part-time by two Chamber of Barcelona staff and a full-time external project coordinator. Annual budget for its operation is €60,000 approx.
Evidence of success
Lab3040 has 13 members and partnerships with 10+ knowledge agents (universities, research centers) who help disseminate the challenges and make them known to companies, facilitating technology transfer. During the two calls for solutions carried out to date, 400+ startups were contacted, with 55 linked to project corporations. This led to 4 pilot projects between corporations and startups and 2 corporate collaboration initiatives.
Potential for learning or transfer
Lab3040 promotes collaborative design approaches to address urban and business sustainability challenges through a focus on co-creation, knowledge sharing, and innovative practices that prioritize environmental and social responsibility. This initiative is a valuable model of good practice because it embodies how public institutions and businesses can collaborate to advance sustainable development goals (SDGs) through shared design thinking frameworks and projects. Lab3040's structure, fostering multi-stakeholder engagement and sustainable design, offers a replicable model that can inspire other regions to adopt similar collaborative platforms. It shows how policy, local businesses, and innovation ecosystems can synergize for sustainability. Other regions could benefit by observing Lab3040's integration of public-private partnerships and sustainable, user-centered design methods, making it a potential model for sustainable business practices across diverse geographic contexts.
Further information
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Good practice owner
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