Closing celebration in Living Lab Riksten
It has been a rewarding and insightful year for both researchers and co-researchers.
On Sunday 1 October, researchers and resident co-researchers met in Mulleparken for coffee and conversation. The resident co-researchers in Riksten shared their personal insights from the past year, as they have tested different solutions to reduce their car travels.
Living Lab Riksten has been in place from autumn 2022 to 2023 and thanks to the lab, the researchers have been able to follow co-researchers and test mobility solutions for a whole year, in varying seasons and conditions. Together with the co-researchers in Living Lab Riksten, they have studied how new services have been integrated into people's everyday lives and whether this has helped to reduce car dependence in the area.
It has been a year full of insights and it has been great to meet the fourteen co-researchers, learn about their commitment and hear their stories, said researchers Jonas Ihlström and Mia Hesselgren, who helped organise the celebration.
An important part of Living Lab Riksten was the SAMSAS app, where the co-researchers have booked the different types of bikes in the local electric bike pool, as well as rides through an expanded public transport system with car-sharing taxis. The app has also allowed the co-researchers to track and plan their journeys.
During the closing ceremony, the co-researchers were thanked for their important contributions to the research and awarded with diplomas.
"That I dared to ride an electric scooter!"
The closing celebration provided an opportunity to listen to the insights of the co-researchers from Living Lab Riksten, and for participants to share experiences with each other. There was agreement among the participants, that accessible mobility solutions and communications are needed to move away from car dependency. And there was hope that the municipality will both strengthen public transport and continue to offer the various forms of bicycles for rent, now that the research project is coming to an end.
It has been great fun to have the chance to try different ways of getting around and to challenge fears, like when I tried an electric scooter, says co-researcher Pernilla. Co-researcher Ylber agrees, it has been fun, challenging and new, he says. "It's a great solution for taking care of the environment and the climate, so you don't have to drive a petrol car into Tullinge," says Ylber about having different bookable mobility solutions close at hand.
Pernilla agrees, she likes travelling by bike but has also noticed that it is takes more time to do so. "The cargo bikes have been very handy when you need to run an errand, go shopping or throw away garbage or something like that, I would really like to be able to borrow such bikes, I don't want my own I think, but I would like to be able to borrow them here so that I don't have to take the car for those trips," says Pernilla, co-researcher in Living Lab Riksten.
Text: Jenny Rosen