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A new way to work! Future of Work Lab

Basic information

Project Title

A new way to work! Future of Work Lab

Full project title

Basically Innovative’s Future of Work Lab 2017-2021

Category

Mobilisation of culture, arts and communities

Project Description

A new way to work! Future of Work Lab 2017-2021

Re-imagining how we work

The Basically Innovative's Future of Work Lab is on a mission to create a sustainable work life for people and the planet. It explores new, creative ideas about how we work and helps to design inclusive work cultures. The Lab offers a playful space and program, inspired by design thinking and practices from arts and culture. It connects a community of creative, passionate forward-thinkers in a meaningful way.

Project Region

Vienna, Austria

EU Programme or fund

No

Description of the project

Summary

A Basically Innovative project: "Future of Work Lab"

A new way to work! Re-imagining how we work 2017-2021

The mission: The Basically Innovative's "Future of Work Lab" strives to create a sustainable work life and to design a community of creative forward-thinkers who explore together new ideas in a playful space.

How? The "Future of Work Lab" explores new ideas about how we work and helps to design inclusive work cultures - in a playful, beautiful and meaningful way. The Lab offers a creative safe space to develop, discuss, and share new ideas and concepts. With a design thinking mindset and inspired by practices from arts and culture, it connects a community of creative and passionate forward-thinkers and pioneers. The Lab hosts talks, workshops, meet-ups, mentoring sessions and develops storytelling formats. By participating, everyone is invited to develop own ideas and share them in a community of like-minded people. The Lab's ideas, results and learnings are shared publicly and within the community.

Who? Lena Marie Glaser is the creative, passionate force and expert behind the "Future of Work Lab", the pilot project of her research and consulting company Basically Innovative, based in Vienna. Lena, born in 1984, works and lives in Vienna/Austria. She studied Law in Vienna and MA Contemporary European Studies at the University of Sussex (UK) with a strong focus on cultural and social topics. She worked as a lawyer in the MoF in Vienna (briefly in Brussels) and was an assistant in cultural organizations in Vienna, Prague, and Brighton, eg. Lighthouse. In her 30s, Lena suffered from chronic workplace stress. She decided to quit her job and to focus on her creativity and well-being. But giving up your job completely can’t be the solution for everyone. So she formulated her mission to foster a new work culture - for everyone. Her personal learning journey led her to design and implement the "Future of Work Lab".

Key objectives for sustainability

SUSTAINABILITY

Key objectives: Developing and sharing ideas how to foster work-related mental health/well-being.

How? 

  1. Connecting and inspiring creative and passionate forward-thinkers to re-imagine the workplace of the future
  2. Creating a safe space for experimenting, learning and implementing new work concepts for fair, inclusive and healthier work culture
  3. Sharing the learnings of the Lab publicly and within the community 
  4. Considering the sustainability goals of the Green Deal and the SDG's in the design and implementation of the program and storytelling

UN Global Compact Network Germany Expert Paper 2018: "Lena Marie Glaser understands the transformation of work culture as a window of opportunity to ask ourselves: how do we actually want to work?" (translated from German)

Program: Workshops, talks & meet-ups

Storytelling

Key objectives for aesthetics and quality

AESTHETICS / QUALITY OF EXPERIENCE

Key objectives: Adopting the mindset, tools and practices of art, design and culture to achieve the mission. 

How?

  1. Designing und curating playful, beautiful and meaningful experiences in a safe space 
  2. Collaborating with aspiring young creatives such as photographers, artists, architects, designers and storytellers (especially females)
  3. Considering aesthetics in the design and implementation of the program and storytelling

Winner of the 2020 Prize "Creatives for Vienna", Vienna Business Agency (City of Vienna): NEW WORK LOVE Newsletter - concept

Program: Workshops, talks & meet-ups

Storytelling

Key objectives for inclusion

INCLUSION

Key objectives: Encouraging, connecting and sharing ideas of voices that are not heard as often - especially young females.

How?

  1. Telling stories about young female professionals and creatives
  2. Designing and curating the program with a sensitivity for Gender issues
  3. Encouraging young females to tell their stories (mentoring)
  4. Advising senior executives and policy-makers: workshop for HR senior managers, working group "Home-office" of the Austrian Ministry of Labour
  5. Giving expert interviews:
    • ORF 1 Live TV Studio "Millennials and a new way of working", diePresse “We don’t want to return to the normal way of working”, DACHelles "New ways of working", OKTO #europa4me TV-Panel "New ways of working: Home-Office"
  6. Writing essays and articles (books, expert papers):

Program: Workshops, talks & meet-ups

Storytelling

Results in relation to category

MOBILISATION OF CULTURE, ARTS AND COMMUNITIES

Results and Impacts:

  1. Creating new ideas about fostering a new work culture for more well-being and inclusion
  2. Connecting creative forward-thinkers and pioneers with the business world and policy-making
  3. Building a community and network of forward-thinkers from arts, design, culture 
  4. Designing and curating playful, beautiful and meaningful experiences
  5. Adopting the mindset, tools and practices of art, design and culture to foster change

Program: Workshops, talks & meet-ups

Storytelling

How Citizens benefit

CITIZENS / CIVIL SOCIETY

Benefits:

  1. The Future of Work Lab involves citizens and civil society in the design and in the implementation.
  2. It offers an innovative program for creative and passionate forward-thinkers from civil society within a safe space. 
  3. It provides citizens with a network and toolkit to foster a new mindset and well-being at work.
  4. It strives to connect and inspire citizens from various backgrounds: employees, artists, designers, architects, managers, students, educators, policy-makers, researchers.
  5. It offers a public platform for new ideas benefiting the well-being at work for all citizens.

Impact: 

  1. The project supports the implementation of the European Union’s goal of sustainability, the Green Deal and the SDG's.
  2. It invites citizens from different backgrounds to come together and share ideas, experiences and stories. It encourages and empowers within a community based on solidarity, equality and inclusion.
  3. In times of digitalization, automatization and globalization it offers a safe space for meaningful and playful experiences to shape our future of work together - within communities, companies, in families, in education and policy-making. 
  4. In reference to the Vienna Manifesto on Digital Humanism, it invites citizens to join in a broader discussion around the transformation of our workplaces. It offers a new perspective that is not driven by economical and financial means, but from a perspective of well-being, inclusion and sustainability.

Innovative character

INNOVATIVE CHARACTER

  1. The Lab encourages and inspires creative forward-thinkers and builds a new network and community to shape the future of work.
  2. It connects creative minds with the business world and policy-making to create better, more inclusive ideas about the transformation of our work places.
  3. It offers a playful and joyful method ("Learning Journey") and toolkit for citizens that is inspired by ideas and practices from arts, culture and design.
  4. It offers a safe space for meaningful experiences to foster change.

Program: Workshops, talks & meet-ups

Storytelling 

 

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