Beyond policy experimentation to political praxis: Citizenship formation through Living Labs

This study reconceptualises Living Labs as democratic spaces for the political formation of citizens, beyond their conventional role as tools for technological experimentation or policy implementation. Drawing on the theoretical framework of deliberation, subjectivation, and praxis, it explores how citizens transition from passive policy recipients to active political subjects through participation in Living Labs. Rather than focusing on institutional outcomes, the study examines how citizens engage in ethical and practical reflection to define public problems, co-create solutions, and enact change within their lived contexts. Methodologically, the study adopts an interpretive, concept-led approach, analysing two Living Lab cases conducted in 2024: a climate disaster alert project and a citizen-led carbon neutrality initiative. These cases illustrate how deliberative and co-creative processes can foster reflexivity, judgement, and transformation. However, the paper also cautions against idealising participation, highlighting the need to address issues of power, exclusion, and diversity for Living Labs to fulfil their democratic potential. Ultimately, Living Labs are positioned as experimental infrastructures for lived democracy, where publicness is reconstructed through practice and where marginalised voices can articulate new claims to citizenship. This approach aligns with Deweyan pragmatism and affirms democracy as an ongoing process of becoming, not a static institutional form.