The recent DIRECTED General Assembly was held from September 18 – 21, 2023 in Cologne/Bergheim. This was not your average meeting, but rather an excursion into the world of real-world labs (RWL) and immersive simulations.

Setting the stage

The assembly commenced with social dinners on Monday and Tuesday. Consortium members from various domains mingled, shared their insights, and built lasting connections.

Unconventional approach to portraying abstract concepts

‘World coffee’ sessions set the stage for imaginative exploration of stakeholder needs. Unconventional materials like play dough, pipe cleaners, and wood scraps enabled  participants to visually express their complex challenges. This creative approach breathed life into abstract concepts, offering fresh perspectives on the intricate issues faced by the RWL.

A Lesson in Practicality

A highlight of the meeting was an immersive role-play of a disaster scenario on a fictional island. In this game, the fictional government had limited access to resources to respond to the disaster. Participants, representing different interest groups whose information base was not shared, had to get the government to spend its scarce resources in their organizations’ favor. In a second round, the information was shared among the participants and the game turned into a discussion before everyone fought over the available money to achieve their own goals. This hands-on exercise allowed participants to understand real-world conflicts in a controlled environment, providing invaluable insight into the challenges the RWLs face during emergencies and the need for data fabrics and connected information sources.

 

A Journey into Real-World Labs

On Wednesday, participants embarked on an enlightening excursion to Hambacher Loch, Damm Horchheim, and Erft renaturation in Euskirchen. This wasn’t just a sightseeing tour; it was an opportunity to gain first-hand insight and understand the labs’ unique challenges and opportunities.

As the assembly drew to a close, it was announced that the next general assembly would take place in Rimini representing the Emilia-Romagna region.

 

This blogpost was written with the help of AI