On 7 December, the Competence Field Metropolitan Research of the University Alliance Ruhr hosted the 5th KoMet Day. A team of rehabilitation and social scientists from the Social Research Centre and social designers from Münster University of Applied Sciences took the opportunity to present and discuss a real-world laboratory approach that they are currently applying in the project AWIEW (Work. The way I want it! - project management: Deputy Professor PD Dr Bastian Pelka). The real-world laboratory "FranzLab" is characterised by a participatory approach. This approach is implemented together with the practice partner Franz Sales Haus in Essen, a Catholic welfare organisation and the SYMILA application centre of the Fraunhofer FIT. The focus is on developing and testing a needs assessment tool and framing new practices to support transitions to the primary labour market. The special feature of this real-world laboratory is its transfer to the context of the rehabilitation system with a focus on the vocational participation of people with disabilities. The application in this field, which has so far been largely unexplored by the real-world laboratory approach, requires numerous new approaches, including pedagogical approaches.

During the KoMet Day, a short presentation of the approach was followed by a round table discussion at one of seven thematic tables and an intensive exchange on the challenges of transferring the real-world laboratory approach to the new context. The discussion was moderated by sfs researchers Daniel Krüger, Caroline Mosch and Ann Christin Schulz, together with Diana Cürlis and Mara Vöcking from the Münster School of Design. The results of this discussion, were then presented to the plenary. The event concluded with an exciting poster session about the results of the discussions.

Link to the Competence Field Metropolitan Research: https://metropolenforschung.uaruhr.de/en/

Link to the AWIEW project: https://www.arbeiten-wie-ich-es-will.de/

Back