In the GATHERINGS project, Living Labs play a pivotal role in exploring innovative solutions to enhance the security of public gatherings while balancing economic and social costs. Discover how the Bulgarian Living Lab is working towards engaging with stakeholders and moving towards the project goals.
The Living Labs’ activities have focused on gathering insights from both citizens and security professionals through surveys, interviews, and upcoming focus groups. The studies conducted as part of the Living Lab activities in Bulgaria have involved presence at different events, such as large concerts, and music festivals. The main location of these activities is in Sofia, Bulgaria’s capital and most densely populated city.
So far, over 150 citizens have completed a survey during the aforementioned events. In addition, several interviews with surveillance professionals have taken place, providing important insights. In addition, focus group discussions will be organised with citizens, including such with representatives of vulnerable communities. The Living Lab activities aim to explore the effectiveness of the security of public gatherings in terms of balancing economic and social costs, as well as the feeling of security of the events’ visitors.
The Living Lab activities implemented in Bulgaria so far have fostered mutually beneficial collaborations with public and private stakeholders, as well as citizens, positioning the GATHERINGS project as a reliable platform for sharing knowledge, experience, and co-creating a vision for more effective citizen-centered security of public gatherings.
Looking ahead, the project is expected to build on this momentum, with key outcomes such as earned public trust, successful implementation of activities, and lasting connections that would continue to benefit all relevant stakeholders beyond the project’s ending.