What is a hub?
A hub is any physical or even online space where u.lab participants come together to learn and co-create, using the frameworks and methods offered through u.lab.
In that sense, hubs are helping people to translate insights into action, as well as co-creating with others. The physical space enhances the typical MOOC experience by providing group support for self-organized learning and co-creation.
At a local level, hubs can help connect people around common interests. At a global level, the various hubs from around the world will be part of a network of hub hosts that exchange insights, experiences and knowledge.
A hub can also just be virtual. We saw examples of participants gathering online, in virtual meetings, around a theme they all care about. This offers a different quality of being together, and can still deepen the learning and increase the sense of being in it together.
'What makes a hub a hub' by Julie Arts: https://vimeo.com/174128987
Size and location
Hubs can be almost any size: five friends in a living room, ten co-workers in a meeting room, 100 people gathered in a local community center or university. Similarly, hubs can be anywhere. During u.lab in 2015 en 2016, over 350 hubs formed all across the world, from northern Canada to South Africa and China. Hubs exist wherever u.lab participants choose to come together in the context of this course.
How often to meet?
This is entirely up to you and the hub participants. There are many ways to organize a hub. Every context is different. Here are some options to help you shape your own hosting experience.
1. Host only the Live Sessions
Some hubs convene on the four Thursdays of the live sessions. Others choose to convene on another, more suitable day or time to watch the recorded version of the live sessions, which is typically made available within a few hours after the conclusion of the live broadcast. We encourage to make time for conversation before and after the live session.
2. Meet weekly during u.lab
Some hubs convene every week during the course. During these weeks when there is no live session. These hubs may use the time to reflect on and practise concepts in the course materials or engage in other possible activities such as:
· Coaching circles
· Dialogue walks
· Sensing journeys
· Social Presencing Theater (SPT) practices
· Prototyping activities
These activities will be described in detail and instructions will be given during the u.lab course itself. Prototyping and SPT are also more in detail described in this guide.
3. Meet weekly during u.lab and continue meeting afterwards
Some hubs continue to meet after u.lab ends: to further develop prototypes, continue the coaching circles, deepen their connections to the movement, etc…
4. Meet during a process working on a certain topic or challenge
Some hubs, especially when there is already more experience with u.lab, host u.lab ‘at their own time’. They gather in hubs, applying u.lab-materials to design solutions and answers for their organization or community. This can be between 1X-courses but also completely independent, even designing their own pace and program, all depending on the topic or purpose of the hub.
Voices from the u.lab field
We include a gallery of short moviesto inspire & supportyou in your role as a hub host. We interviewed people from the u.lab community, all having different roles, coming from different parts of the world, involved in a wide diversity of hubs.
Hubs can be small or large, open to all or with intentional invitations, focused on learning & reflection or created around a specific challenge/project, organized in a city or in a company.
These videos give an impression about the variety and different approaches that are possible.
We collected the interviews here and also integrated them in the relevant chapters of the hub host guide.
3 Examples of 'Why to host a hub for u.lab?'
Why Scottish government chose for u.lab as a platform for public participation, by Kenneth Hoggs:https://vimeo.com/173818562
Co-designing around a particular place-based challenge, by Katie Stubley:https://vimeo.com/173830127
How u.lab helps reinventing a city, by Vincent De Waele: https://vimeo.com/174012105
Practical host advice
What makes a hub a hub? by Julie Arts: https://vimeo.com/174128987
What does it take to create a good hub? by Otto Scharmer: https://vimeo.com/173807967
What is- and how to organize a taster session? by Keira Oliver: https://vimeo.com/173814679
Sense-making through visual harvesting, by Kelvy Bird: https://vimeo.com/187455409
How to design a session for u.lab? by Julie Arts: https://vimeo.com/173821342
The different roles in hosting a hub, by Lili Xu Brandt:chttps://vimeo.com/173827932
Hosts from around the world about why & how you could host a hub
Nice Lazpita about bringing people together for learning and following the possibilities:https://vimeo.com/173822956
Tami Tuanfang Liu about regular meetings for impact: https://vimeo.com/173826610
Gene Toland about coördinating hubs in Latin America: https://vimeo.com/173831544
Keira Oliver about how u.lab helps in making the change you want to make: https://vimeo.com/174010525
Impact Hub Berlin: Vishal Jodhani about convening a space, creating a dream, and doing long-term planning. https://vimeo.com/174005452
Impact Hub Oakland: Lisa Chacon, about going on a journey to meet like-minded and like-hearted people.