Civic by Design: Open Labs in Pop-Up Spaces

What happens when science moves off-campus? To explore this question, the CIVIS Open Lab Tübingen transformed a vacant storefront in the city center into a temporary space for civic engagement and dialogue. From May to July 2025, ECKSTEIN served as an open and accessible meeting place where researchers, students, local stakeholders, and citizens could exchange perspectives and engage with societal challenges.

Developed through mentoring and peer exchange with partner CIVIS Open Labs, the project aimed to strengthen connections between the university and local communities and experiment with participatory approaches to civic engagement. Activities included exhibitions, workshops, transnational livestreams, and co-creation formats centered on Democracy & Europe, Diversity, and Future.

As a pilot initiative, ECKSTEIN created new pathways between research and society, reached new audiences, and fostered collaborations between academic and community partners. The project generated insights into how temporary, low-threshold dialogue spaces can support long-term civic engagement and societal impact.

Main Beneficiaries & Social Impact

Main Beneficiaries

Who is the project for – students, citizens, NGOs, policymakers? How can they participate – workshops, open calls, co-creation sessions? How many are involved ? The CIVIS Pop-Up Store was designed for citizens, students, researchers, and community organisations, including NGOs, schools, cultural institutions, and local initiatives. Participation was open and free of charge through exhibitions, workshops, public dialogues, interactive surveys, co-creation activities, service-learning projects, and hybrid European events. Students gained hands-on experience in science communication and civic engagement, while researchers engaged directly with society and shared their work beyond the university.

Community partners used the space to connect with researchers, contribute their expertise, and co-design activities addressing local and societal challenges. During its three-month pilot phase, the project attracted more than 1,500 visitors and involved students, more than 50 researchers, and 11 community partners in programme design and delivery.

Social Impact

How do beneficiaries benefit (learning opportunities, networks, capacity-building, real-world impact)? What is the expected or observed social impact – awareness, strengthened skills, collaboration, policy influence?

The project strengthened connections between the university and local communities by creating an accessible space for dialogue, learning, and collaboration. Citizens gained opportunities to engage with research and contribute their perspectives to societal discussions, while students and researchers developed practical skills in science communication, civic engagement, and co-creation. The pop-up format fostered new networks between the university, community organisations, and European CIVIS partners, encouraging mutual learning and trust. By attracting many first-time visitors and spontaneous walk-ins, the project demonstrated the potential of low-threshold engagement spaces to broaden participation in science and civic life. The experience generated valuable insights and transferable recommendations for future CIVIS Open Lab initiatives across the alliance.

Core Methodology

Using a temporary pop-up store in the city centre as a civic engagement space, the project brought research into everyday urban life and created opportunities for dialogue, participation, and co-creation. Open and accessible formats enabled local stakeholders, students, and researchers to exchange perspectives, build connections, and explore shared societal challenges.

Events in the Project

Over a three-month period, the pop-up store was open on 67 days and served as a visible and accessible space for dialogue between science and society. Researchers, students, community organisations, and citizens were invited to co-create the programme. Through a mix of exhibitions, participatory events and hands-on workshops addressing diverse topics such as Europe and democracy (thematic focus of May 2025), diversity (June 2025), and future (July 2025), the project engaged a broad audience.

In total, 98 events, 9 exhibitions, and 7 interactive surveys were delivered, attracting more than 1,500 visitors, including over 360 spontaneous walk-ins. The steadily increasing visitor numbers and growing demand from researchers, students and community partners to use the space demonstrated the potential of pop-up engagement formats to create meaningful connections between universities and local communities.

The following examples highlight activities with a particularly strong European dimension.

Event Name	Dates	Location	Description
Open dialogue hours	Throughout May – July 2025	CIVIS Pop-Up Store ECKSTEIN	Regular open dialogue hours inviting passers-by to enter the space, discuss current research topics, contribute ideas, and engage in participatory activities.
CIVIS Open Lab Council Meeting	07.05.2025; 04.06.2025; 25.06.2025	hybrid event - CIVIS Pop-Up Store ECKSTEIN	Live streaming of the transnational meeting. Everyone interested in the work of the CIVIS Open Labs was invited to join (researchers, students, citizens)
Welcome Event for Incoming CIVIS Exchange Students	09.05.2025	CIVIS Pop-Up Store ECKSTEIN	Welcome event and get-together of incoming CIVIS exchange students at Tübingen University. The event was open to everyone interested (researchers, students, citizens)
Science Snack “What is CIVIS, a European University Alliance, good for?”	09.05.2025	CIVIS Pop-Up Store ECKSTEIN	Talk and discussion with Dr. Georg Hauzenberger, Unit European University Alliance (CIVIS) at UT. Event open to everyone (researchers, students, citizens)
Student course “Creative science communication at the pop-up store”	16.05.2025; 23.05.2025; 20.06.2025; 21.06.2025; 11.07.2025; 12.07.2025	CIVIS Pop-Up Store ECKSTEIN	Student course on Public Engagement with Science offered by Dr. Mareike Kardinal, CIVIS Open Lab Tübingen. Open to students interested in creating participatory activities at the ECKSTEIN
Workshop “Design Thinking”	26.05.2025	CIVIS Pop-Up Store ECKSTEIN	Hands-on workshop on Design Thinking led by Emma Blomquist, OpenLab Stockholm; event open to local partners of the Open Labs (researchers, staff, students, citizens)
Dialogbar “From Classroom to Community: Civic Engagement & Service-Learning”	26.05.2025	CIVIS Pop-Up Store ECKSTEIN	Participatory event, organized with the CIVIS Open Labs in Stockholm, Lausanne, and Salzburg. Open to everyone interested (researchers, students, citizens)
Meeting "Tackling the Challenges of Ageing"	26.05.2025 27.05.2025	hybrid event - CIVIS Pop-Up Store ECKSTEIN	Transnational project meeting of the CIVIS Open lab “Tackling the Challenges of Ageing”, The meeting invited a local community center “Begegnungsstätte HIRSCH” and senior citizens to discuss their project.
Event “Von Feindeshass und Bruderliebe”	04.06.2025	CIVIS Pop-Up Store ECKSTEIN	Reading and discussion on texts from WWI and the war in Ukraine; event open to everyone (researchers, students, citizens); organized by the Friends Association of Zimmertheater
“Dialog on Global Citizenship for Peace, Justice and Sustainability”	18.06.2025	CIVIS Pop-Up Store ECKSTEIN	Workshop organized by Hirotaka Kobayashi, MA. Open to everyone (researchers, students, citizens)
“Allons-y! Gehen wir!”	23.06.2025	CIVIS Pop-Up Store ECKSTEIN	A German-French theater project by the bilingual class of a Tübingen school class and their partner class in France; organized by the Friends Association of Zimmertheater
Discussion “Shaping a sustainable future”	10.07.2025	CIVIS Pop-Up Store ECKSTEIN	Exchange on the work as a Youth Delegate for Sustainable Development at the United Nations; organized by Florian Brod, Youth Delegate and UT student
Science Snack "Who runs research?"	11.07.2025	CIVIS Pop-Up Store ECKSTEIN	Talk and Discussion with Prof. Ursula Offenberger on power, visibility, and diversity in research. Open to everyone (researchers, students, citizens)

Take-Aways

Broadening Participation

Pop-up engagement in everyday urban environments encourage spontaneous encounters between between students, researchers, and citizens
Open and accessible spaces can reach citizens who would not normally engage with universities or science communication activities.

Building Relationships

Informal dialogue helps reduce barriers and builds trust between universities and local communities
Pop-up spaces can create opportunities for new connections, collaborative projects, and sustained engagement.

Creating Impact Beyond Events

Public engagement begins before people enter the space: visibility, accessibility, and atmosphere are as important as the activities themselves.
Strong community partnerships are essential for reaching diverse audiences, ensuring local relevance, and creating lasting impact.

CIVIS Added Value

Local public engagement activities were enriched through transnational collaboration, shared methodologies, and knowledge exchange within the CIVIS Alliance.
The pilot generated practical insights and a transferable model for future CIVIS Open Lab initiatives.

We were not only able to provide practical guidance on retirement planning and contribute to public education, but ECKSTEIN also helped us better understand the issues that matter to local communities. That has given us a new perspective on our research.

Friedrich Gabel, Team Leader at the International Center for Ethics in the Sciences and Humanities, Tübingen University

Partners

Partner Name	Type	Bio
CIVIS Open Lab at Eberhard Karls Universität Tübingen (Germany)	Implementing project partner	The CIVIS Open Lab Tübingen is a platform for transdisciplinary and participatory research that brings together researchers, students, and societal stakeholders. Embedded within the university’s Public Engagement strategy, it provides the infrastructure and expertise for dialogue, co-creation, and collaborative knowledge production.
OpenLab Stockholm (Sweden)	Critical friend	OpenLab Stockholm is a center for societal innovation that connects academia, public authorities, and communities to develop solutions to complex challenges. It brings extensive expertise in co-creation, collaboration, and innovation methods for the public sector.
CIVIS Open Lab at University of Salzburg (Austria)	Critical friend
CIVIS Open Lab at Université de Lausanne (Switzerland)	Critical friend
CIVIS Open Lab at the University of Glasgow (UK)	Critical friend
CIVIS Open Lab at Université libre de Bruxelles (Belgium)	Critical friend
Freundeskreis des Zimmertheater	Local stakeholder
Retour Gebrauchtwarenbörse	Local stakehoder	Retour Gebrauchtwarenbörse, operated by the BruderhausDiakonie, is a social enterprise that combines sustainability with social inclusion. Through its second-hand store and reuse initiatives, Retour promotes the circular economy while creating employment, training, and reintegration opportunities for people facing barriers to the labor market.
Der Hanfingenieur	Local stakeholder	Hanfingenieur is a sustainability-focused engineering and consulting firm dedicated to advancing the use of hemp and other natural building materials. The organisation develops healthy, resource-efficient building solutions that combine environmental performance with human well-being.

Contact point

CIVIS Open Lab Coordinator

Dr. Mareike Kardinal
Email