Workshops with stakeholders

The kick-off with the Lokstadt stakeholders took place in December 2022. On the one hand, the workshop served to get to know each other and identify roles. On the other hand, initial ideas for interventions in Lokstadt were collected.

Workshops with residents

In January 2023, workshops were organized with Lokstadt residents on two evenings. The workshops served to identify the needs of residents and the areas in which they see potential for more sustainable lifestyles. Together with residents, we analyzed problems in a total of five areas and developed possible solutions. A total of 16 exciting ideas emerged from the workshops with stakeholders and residents. In particular, it emerged that there is a desire for better offers and opportunities to use bicycles and that there is generally a great desire for more interaction between residents—whether in the form of swapping/borrowing items or joint activities, events and meeting spaces.

Intervention workshops

The intervention ideas from the January workshops were evaluated by the ZHAW researchers based on the following criteria: Prioritising of residents, effectiveness in terms of energy or CO₂ reduction, support for sustainable lifestyles, relevance for research and feasibility in Lokstadt. The last criterion of feasibility was assessed together with the stakeholders.

Workshops on communication channels

In October, a workshop was held with stakeholders with a focus on communication channels and the initial planning of the launch event. Together, we looked at the best channels for reaching residents and how we can motivate as many people as possible to take part.

The time has come in mid-May 2025 – we are launching the Living Lab Lokstadt!

To kick things off, we are organising a scavenger hunt through the various buildings at Lokstadt. Participants can take a look behind the scenes of BigBoy, Krokodil, Tender etc., master challenges at various stations and find out what’s behind the Living Lab Lokstadt. At the same time, the residents can get to know each other better and spend an exciting afternoon in the neighbourhood. To plan this, we met with the residents of Lokstadt on January 15, 2025.

Would you also like to help organise this event in your neighbourhood? Do you like to be creative, do all kinds of ideas come to mind when you hear Lokstadt scavenger hunt or do you know someone who knows someone who … you know …

Then get in touch with us!

Lifestyle survey

Before the first project is implemented, we ask residents about their needs, activities and opinions on the topic of sustainability in order to get an idea of the various aspects of sustainability in residents’ everyday lives. The survey can be completed online or on paper and takes 20-30 minutes to complete. Click here to access the survey.

Mobility campaign

Many people don’t know exactly how much CO₂ is emitted by different modes of transport. This makes it difficult to decide whether the city bus or the e-scooter is the more environmentally friendly option, or whether the train performs better compared to an e-car. In the mobility campaign, Lokstadt residents can view their personal mobility overview in the SWICE App to see which means of transport they used for which distances. Click here for more information.

Successful start at Living Lab Lokstadt

Last Sunday, the big neighbourhood brunch took place at Lokstadt. The atmosphere was fantastic! Despite the occasional rain, the neighbourhood put their heart and soul into setting the 50-meter-long table: they baked, cooked, decorated, ground the finest coffee (thanks to B51!) and served the best Prosecco (thanks to Delinat!). The brunch tavolata was really something to be proud of.

After brunch, the event continued with a varied post run through the neighbourhood to mark the start of the Living Lab Lokstadt campaigns. Participants were able to find out more about the Living Lab Lokstadt and register to take part in the current exciting campaigns. Young and old alike were able to get creative in Christa Rogger’s studio and design their own linoleum prints. On the roof terrace, Rudolf Stadelmann gave exciting insights into the history of Lokstadt, and Lorena Rechsteiner challenged the participants to put their CargoVelo skills to the test. For the little adventurers, there was a sweat-inducing handicraft course, lovingly designed by Lilo Kasser together with Gusto d’Oro. Anyone who needed to mend an item of clothing or was looking for fashion inspiration could visit the PILA fashion manufactory.

We from the ZHAW were able to have many enriching conversations with the residents of the neighbourhood on this day. Together, we discussed the future of Lokstadt—about well-being, sustainable mobility and the use of energy. It’s great to see how much commitment and interest can be felt here on site.

A big thank you goes to the Stadtlokt Kollektiv for the great organization of this day and the Quartierverein Brühlberg-Tössfeld for their support—without your commitment, this special start to the Living Lab Lokstadt would not have been possible!

We would like to thank everyone who attended and look forward to many more exciting encounters in Living Lab Lokstadt!

Workshop extended steering group

The first results of the mobility visualization and lifestyle survey were presented at the Living Lab Lokstadt meeting.

A key topic was the promotion of pedestrian and bicycle traffic. We discussed ideas such as colored path markings, better signaling for greater safety and creative greening. Specific problems, such as night-time car traffic at Migros Teo, were also addressed. This would require discussions with the city, where the LL could establish contact.

Campaigns such as bike test weeks, a joint bike day or a bike check were proposed to motivate people to use sustainable mobility. The idea of a local bike workshop also came up. These are to be pursued further in spring 2026.

Another concern: many people are not familiar with the Lokstadt mobility concept. A flyer with local offers and sustainable mobility alternatives is in the planning. We will be looking for helpers after the summer vacation. If you would like to get involved, please contact livinglab.lokstadt@zhaw.ch.

Lokstadt Lokal – Workshop on local offers in Lokstadt

Together with Lokstadt residents, we have developed a map of Lokstadt and the surrounding area for a “city of short distances”. It shows all the important offers in the neighbourhood: from the fine restaurant to the nice café and the workshop for tinkering and working to the businesses and co-working spaces at Dialogplatz. At the same time, with this map we also want to focus on opportunities to share or swap everyday objects and means of transportation. This is why the map also includes suitable platforms and rental concepts in addition to physical offers. To further promote neighbourly exchange, we would also like to launch the pumpipumpe sharing service in Lokstadt as part of the publication of the LokstadtLokal map.

If you would like to help think about the final design of the map and how we can get residents excited about the offers in Lokstadt and the pumpipumpe sharing concept, then come to our workshop!

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📍 Workshop Info
🗓 When: October 29, 2025, 6:00 PM–7:30 PM
📌 Where: Technopark, Technoparkstr. 2 – Entrance B (middle entrance), 2nd floor, Room MN 02.46
👥 Who: All interested residents and partners of Lokstadt
🥪 What: Productive work with sandwiches in a relaxed workshop atmosphere
👉 Register by October 15, 2025 at: livinglab.lokstadt@zhaw.ch

Launch of Lokstadt Lokal

Together with residents and businesses from Lokstadt, we have developed a map of Lokstadt and the surrounding area that contains all the important offers in the neighbourhood (e.g. restaurants, workshops, businesses, leisure activities). We will be distributing these in the mailboxes of the neighbourhood in the week of November 17.

In order to further promote neighborly exchange, we would also like to launch the pumpipumpe sharing service at the same time as the LokstadtLokal card. These are analog and digital stickers that indicate items that residents would like to lend out in the neighborhood (e.g. large ladders, benches). The stickers are deposited in Orbit and can be collected free of charge. In addition, we hang a small sticker sheet on the whiteboards of the various houses for three weeks to draw residents’ attention to them.

Missing offers can be added online on our website livinglablokstadt.zhaw.ch/karte.

At the beginning of 2026, the “Lokstadt Mobil” workshop took place, where we discussed ideas for a bike repair day, a bike workshop, and raised beds as a speed reduction measure. Participants were bursting with ideas. The next steps are now being planned together with Lokstadt residents.