One of the greatest challenges today is the assurance of our well-being in this world influenced by new technologies and science. How can we increase our well-being on the long run rationally using the latest technologies and scientific knowledge without becoming their slaves?

It is also interesting to ask how we can develop the technologies, products, services and methodologies in a way that their primary goal is not a technical bravoure or an unlimited money making opportunity. We have to find a way to use these new technologies to help us assure and increase our well-being. Even though increasing our well-being is important for all of us, as far as we know, there are relatively few research & development (R&D) and innovation activities that focus on this priority.

This discovery led TREBAG Intellectual Property & Project Management and Net-MEX Innovation and Education Ltd. to establish the Nagykovácsi Innovation Lodge and operate the Well-being Living Lab in it.” The Living Lab closely cooperates with local stakeholders including the local sport clubs, the Municipality and the Rákospalota Elderly Club. We have an extended network in Europe, too.

The Living Lab is active in initiating and encouraging programmes which contribute to the wellbeing of people with special focus on older adults as well as promoting ways for innovation and innovative solutions in the business sector. It is engaged in developing solutions and training materials involving the end-users and relevant stakeholders, and exchanging practices in the topic with partners throughout Europe.

Unique/special characteristics of Nagykovácsi Wellbeing Living Lab:

• Human-centricity: people are in the main focus and the maintenance of their well-being, so the importance of maternal issues such as economic growth and state-of the art infrastructure are only secondary.
• The vast majority of the programs and services have been developed in international collaborations. It is natural for us to offer our programs and services supplied by our Well-being Lining Lab to all our previous and present collaborators, therefore they can benefit from them. In addition, the multilingual nature of these projects is an additional bonus to everyone.
• Our countryside/village habitat (but still just 15 minutes from the busy Budapest) offers a great environment to our end-users and stakeholders to drop-in and share their views and comments about our running projects. Our policy is to make our Living Lab as open as possible.
• One of the main priorities of our LL is the maintenance of well-being and health of the older generation, which is supported by a range of programs and services specially tailored for elderly people.

→Previous Projects:

• MENTA50+ Learning to take actions for mental fitness and wellbeing in older age: MENTA project undertakes to respond to the challenges of an ageing society by providing guidelines and concrete training material on mental fitness for people 50+ and providers by:
  • raising awareness for the importance of mental fitness and wellbeing
  • giving guidelines on how to promote them
  • developing innovative learning material
• KIFLI- Keeping Fit in Later Life: Keeping Fit in Later Life- KIFLI provides an online interactive training material for people 50+ to gain knowledge and guidance on how to improve their physical activity and fitness. It is a project but also a programme offering various opportunities to practice exercises, to try new ways and to get motivated.
• INNOME The main goal of the project is to develop educational materials based on Innovaton Management Standard CEN/TS 16555-1 for senior and middle managers of corporations or HR responsibles, to enable them to establish and manage a process – controlling system.