Coboi lab is a public-community initiative that aims to inspire, motivate, and facilitate innovative ways to collaboratively address urban challenges by exploring synergies among the various stakeholders involved.

Coboi was founded in 2012 with the initial goal of supporting local entrepreneurship and promoting the social and collaborative economy. Throughout its history, the lab has evolved to adapt to the region’s changing realities and needs through three major phases:

• 2012–2017. 1st Iteration – Social and Collaborative Economy Lab: The initial focus was on promoting the social and collaborative economy and supporting the entrepreneurial ecosystem with a commitment to social impact.
• 2017–2019. 2nd Iteration – Social Innovation Lab: Expansion into social innovation. Coboi places social impact initiatives driven by any type of socioeconomic actor at the center, regardless of their legal status. The lab moved into the Service Center, which spans more than 500 m². In 2019, it opened its doors as a new go-to meeting place for local socioeconomic actors, with the goal of jointly co-designing potential solutions to urban challenges.
• 2020 – Present. 3rd Iteration – Public Innovation Lab: Consolidation of Coboi Lab as a tool for transformation and a leading public-community instrument for experimentation in public policy design.

We are part of the municipal structure of the Sant Boi de Llobregat City Council; specifically, we are part of the Mayor’s Office.

We offer methodological support, facilitate innovative processes, and provide collaborative workspaces based on open innovation, active listening, and the co-design of pilot projects.

We focus on four main areas of work:

1. Public-Community Innovation Hub (Espai BETA): We foster relational experimentation within a space in collaboration with its innovative community, connecting citizens with the strategic vision of Public Innovation outlined in the Local Urban Agenda.
2. Systematization of Knowledge and Workflows (AI): We optimize our internal processes and the transfer of knowledge generated by integrating technologies (primarily related to AI) to become more agile, responsive, and effective.
3. Innovation in Internal Processes (Pilot Projects): We design, test, and provide methodological support for pilot projects in collaboration with various municipal departments to improve internal processes.
4. Participation in Related Networks and Communities (Learning Communities): We act as a hub connected to both local and global networks to share experiences and lessons learned and to support one another.

Depending on the nature of each challenge, we take on four distinct roles: leading or co-leading an initiative, providing methodological guidance and facilitation, or serving as a host for related external meetings and activities.

We aspire for our community to be capable of learning and adapting to an uncertain context. In an environment increasingly shaped by rapid technological advancement, we want to be the public infrastructure that serves as a bridge and catalyst between human uniqueness and artificial intelligence (AI).

To make this possible, we are establishing ourselves as a Policy Lab firmly committed to the democratization of institutions and the improvement of governance. We want to play a key role in helping to make the Sant Boi City Council a resilient, accessible, and agile organization when it comes to addressing current and future challenges.

We believe it will be crucial for public institutions to create high-quality in-person spaces where “situated knowledge” can be generated—that is, the qualitative, unique knowledge based on people’s experiences in a specific context, which no algorithm can replicate on its own. At the same time, we will stay closely attuned to technological advancements, especially those related to AI, to ensure that technology and social innovation are always at the service of and for people. We focus on designing collective processes involving different stakeholders; specifically, we aim to (re)formulate the right questions and design high-quality contexts because, by harnessing the potential of collective intelligence, we build healthier, more sustainable, and more humane cities.