Today we visited Reconstructed Living Lab (Rlabs) which is situated in Athlone, a suburb located in Cape Flats. We met with Clinton Liederman, one of the founders of the organization that works with social innovation, education and research. They consist of three main components; Living Lab, Training Academy and an Incubator and are now spreading to twenty-two countries. The innovation incubator gives young community members an opportunity to develop their idea, which all must have social impact, be sustainable and scalable. During the nine months long process they will get training in communication, leadership and entrepreneurship until the final day when they will pitch their idea to the community. A part from entrepreneurship and developing new businesses Rlabs have a function to work as a social platform within the community and give the youth dreams and hopes for their future.
After driving through a quite rough area we could really feel the positive energy and the power that Rlabs creates when walking in to their colorful office. The atmosphere inside really reflects their core values and it was very inspiring to see young community members so engaged in their own different projects around social innovation.
One of Rlabs projects is a Youth Café where money doesn’t exist, creating equality for people regardless of socioeconomic situation. Instead of money, good deeds will generate Zlato, a virtual currency which can be used at the café. A future potential development could be to implement the currency in other parts of the community, such as barbershops and metro stations. Rlabs works not only for but also with the community. They sometimes hold workshops where they take a walk in the neighborhood to point out problems and where new projects could be developed.
In order to strengthen the community from different angles, they also invite women to learn about new technology once a week. The workshops have a different topic each time, for example online security and it’s also an opportunity for women who are mostly at home to meet and reflect in a safe space.
As same as in Langral, we once again got to experience the power of the community in order to create social innovation, as well as how important it is to encourage and support the dreams and hopes of the youth.
If you want to learn more about Rlabs check out their website.
Above: Creative work in progress.
Above: A prototype for one of the projects.
Above: Clinton telling us the interesting story about Rlabs.
Above: Office space at Rlabs.
