The contexts of transformation, innovation and partnership across organisational, cultural and disciplinary boundaries that have generated the ideas and practice of the Social Informatics Laboratory precisely match the challenges facing Newcastle University both internally, in maintaining and developing its research base, and externally in its engagement with the Region and beyond. Collaboration is a core business modality of a research led university and the creation and sustenance of collaborative structures and mechanisms are one of its core means of acting in and as a community. We expect that our membership into European Network of Living Labs would reinforce our commitment towards both maintaining and developing our research base to enable and promote interdisciplinary and partnership working as well as our future engagement in the Region and beyond.