ARTENSO and LLio are two college centers for research and transfer in innovative social practices affiliated respectively with the CEGEP de Saint-Laurent (Montreal) and the CEGEP de Rivière-du-Loup (Bas-Saint-Laurent). The LLio is a Living Lab that facilitates open innovation, creative collaboration and the emergence of collective intelligence to support organizational transformations. The two centers share a number of values, principles and approaches, including contemporary forms of learning and transfer that put people’s participation at the heart of the processes. The two entities wished to pool their expertise to generate new knowledge and experience in their common fields of practice. This research is the continuation of a reflection process initiated in the summer of 2019.
The meeting between the two CCTs led to the emergence of a first project, the professional day Remix ta médiation! which was held at the Cégep de Saint-Laurent on October 18, 2019. The goal of this event was to present collaborative approaches (living laboratory, hackathon, creative sprint…) that are becoming more democratic and popular in the cultural mediation field, particularly in digital uses. To our knowledge, these aspects are so far little or not documented by academic works. This research therefore aims to shed light on existing collaborative practices, but also to operationalize knowledge on collaboration and innovation for the cultural mediation community. We seek to understand how collaborative approaches and digital devices can contribute to the innovation of cultural mediation processes.
The research includes an extensive literature review on the notion of collaboration in the cultural field as well as in open innovation. This is complemented by a study on the collaborative needs and practices of mediation professionals in Quebec. The research is based on semi-structured interviews and in situ observation, particularly in relation to the development of a space dedicated to the work and training of cultural mediators in Montreal. Ultimately, the goal is to ensure a transfer of knowledge to all cultural mediation professionals in Quebec.
