Realising gender and diversity sensitive smart mobility futures using IdLabs (at a distance): the TInnGO experience.

The paper will address issues around codesign at a distance, with multidisciplinary and multinational teams having little prior knowledge, experience or interest in design. The domain in which we are working in is transport. The H2020 EU funded TInnGO project (Transport Innovation Gender Observatory) (http://tinngo.eu) has the ambitious aim of creating a paradigm shift in transport employment, education, design and usage, which will break the male domination of the sector. In this a central, virtual observatory serves, and is, in turn served by 10 national hubs (Baltic, French, Scandinavian, German, Greek, Italian, Portuguese, Romanian, Spanish and UK) . Each hub gathers data for the larger observatory and uses tools and methods developed by other consortium members (e.g. gender mainstreaming and gender and diversity action plans, mobility surveys).
Attached to each of the 10 hubs is a small TInnGOIdlab which will engage women and other transport excluded groups in creating gender and diversity sensitive smart mobility products and services, based around local priorities (for example the UK hub is looking at BME groups and autonomous vehicles; the Scandinavian hub is looking a bike design). The hubs will embrace Living Lab and citizen science practices. Design ideas are generated and worked on through an Open Innovation Platform (OIP).
The idea behind this is fivefold; 1) to widen up discussion about smart mobility in local communities in fun and interesting ways; 2) to act as a beacon of engagement in discussing smart mobility; 3) to increase local capacity and knowledge about design; 4) to eable codesign of smart and diversity sensitive solutions to mobility; 5) to use design as a way of exploring and discussing mobility issues.
This is challenging and exciting. Most of the 20 partners are not from a design background. They will be trained and supported in basic participatory design techniques by the Coventry team. Each hub will be responsible for generating 5 key problems, from which design concepts can be co- created with student designers. Products currently being discussed include a universal citybike, e-scooter, e-trikes, supporting mobility of new mums and carers
The paper will reflect on the experience of setting up and working with the 10 national hubs over the first 6 months of their creation, including the challenges, the experience of codesign at a distance with those unfamiliar with design concepts, how key problems were developed by the design students and discussed using the OIP and the viability of this approach