Lab-tested: Social scheme promotes collaboration

Described as ‘part investigation, part experimentation and part playground’, Social Lab highlights the projects it has been involved in on the Social Spaces website, with the aim of encouraging collaboration between local artists and innovators.

The Social Lab site enables collaborators to come together to share and test ideas and connect with the Social Spaces community.

One Social Lab initiative is Trade School London, where people can barter for lessons in foraging and preserving, photography and history. It was a collaboration between New York arts collective Our Gods and East London café and arts venue FARM:shop.

For examples of how brands are using the idea of localism and community to connect with consumers in times of austerity, read our Village Brands mictrotrend.