This graduation project focuses on enhancing resident engagement in innovation testing at The Green Village (TGV), a living lab situated on the TU Delft campus. TGV serves as a field lab for testing sustainable innovations in real-life environments. While residents play a crucial role by providing feedback on these innovations, they often feel disconnected from the process, perceiving their contributions as undervalued or obligatory. This project aims to explore how residents can feel more valued and engaged in innovation testing and the broader TGV community.

The research was guided by two key sub-questions:
1. What challenges do residents currently face in the innovation testing process?
2. What factors contribute to resident engagement within the TGV community?

To answer these questions, the research employed a human-centered design approach, utilizing interviews, focus groups, and auto-ethnographic research. The findings revealed several key challenges that hinder resident engagement. Residents expressed dissatisfaction with the unstructured feedback process, a lack of clear communication, and limited recognition for their contributions. These factors led residents to undermine their roles, influenced by perceptions of how others view their contributions, compounded by the fact that their primary need is housing, not innovation.

The research on factors influencing resident engagement within the TGV community highlighted that community itself is both a cause and an effect of other engagement factors. Based on these findings and relevant literature, a strategic approach was developed to leverage community as a vehicle for connecting residents to the innovation process. Consequently, a community-based resident engagement framework was created to inform and support TGV in developing strategies and interventions that foster resident engagement. This framework is structured around four key elements: Identity, which helps residents form a collective identity within TGV; Interaction, which encourages meaningful exchanges between residents, employees, and innovators; Influence, which reassures residents that their contributions matter; and Impact, which ensures residents can see the tangible outcomes of their input. Together, these elements work to create a sense of community, serving as the foundation for increasing resident participation in innovation activities.

In addition to the framework, several actionable tools were developed to enhance resident engagement. These include the Moments of Intervention-Opportunity Map, which identifies key moments for TGV employees to foster engagement; a sensitizing booklet designed to help TGV employees understand residents’ perspectives and better align their roles in the innovation process; and a quick ideation template grounded in the framework. This template enables TGV employees to gain a deeper understanding of the challenges residents face and identify issues requiring attention. Accompanying this is an evaluation template to assess which ideas could have the most positive impact. Further recommendations involve integrating the framework into TGV’s innovation testing process and conducting additional research to evaluate and iterate the tools for maximum effectiveness. The research also uncovered interesting areas for exploration, including employees’ perspectives on community building within TGV and the influence of gender differences in perceiving empathy.

In conclusion, this project underscores the significance of aligning resident needs with TGV’s innovation goals. By fostering a stronger sense of community and ensuring that residents feel valued, TGV can cultivate a more engaged and motivated resident base, ultimately enhancing the success of its sustainable innovation testing. The framework and tools developed provide a foundational starting point for TGV to establish a more user-driven and collaborative living lab environment.