Living labs are generally understood as models to achieve open innovation ecosystems by employing participatory approaches. The concept is considered a model with great benefits. This stands true especially in sustainable mobility transitions, where user acceptance and participation are crucial cornerstones. The living labs approach holds the potential to help research collaborators, practitioners and real-life users through a participatory action format.
This course introduces living laboratory models for sustainable transitions in urban mobility. The goal of the course is to explore how multiple stakeholders and agencies organise and investigate through living labs to find solutions for urban issues. This module will bring all relevant aspects of living labs together into a coherent approach for testing innovative sustainable mobility solutions and will highlight interlinkages and priorities in the planning and implementation process.
Throughout the course, the learners will understand concepts, approaches, processes and methods used in living labs, supported with relevant case studies.
The 6-week course is organised into 6 sections/modules:
- Module 1a: Living Lab concept and ecosystem
- Module 1b: Co-development, stakeholder engagement, coalition building
- Module 1c: Testing e-mobility innovation in living labs, facilitating public and private sector collaboration
- Module 2a: Policy and economic viability, innovation management
- Module 2b: Business models for public and private sector actors, finance
- Module 2c: Policy, planning integration, replication, up-scaling, funding and finance
The course is designed to give learners an understanding of the origins, concepts and formats of living labs. By the end of the course, learners will know the key principles, characters and methodologies of living labs and will be able to apply this knowledge to design their own projects.
Firstly, the course establishes fundamentals of Living labs including theories, key principles and frameworks. Further, it expands on process of establishing a living lab, methodologies for co-creation and co-development. The second section will go through an in-depth study of stakeholder engagement processes including roles of participants, innovators, organisers and government agents. The course will briefly discuss e-mobility in context to living labs with a focus on policies, planning, and business solutions. The course will go into detail with respect to fundamental business models illustrated through real-world scenarios involving public and private sectors.
Further the course will detail testing and innovation aspects for living labs that include but are not limited to: design, problem solving, conceptualising and evaluating. The course will then delve into financial, business and governance aspects of living labs before finally discussing integration of solutions in real life scenarios and capacity building through living labs. The content will be enriched by inputs from practitioners in field across the world including case studies and readings on living labs.
During the course the learners are expected to complete assignments based on each module in reference to their chosen context. This may include thematic areas for intervention, geographic location, or specific actors involved. The completed weekly assignments will lead to and culminate in a final assignment, a paper on living labs based on their learnings throughout the course and their chosen context related to a specific sustainability transition.
