scholarly journals Living Labs—A Concept for Co-Designing Nature-Based Solutions

2020 ◽  
Vol 13 (1) ◽  
pp. 188
Author(s):  
Gerd Lupp ◽  
Aude Zingraff-Hamed ◽  
Josh J. Huang ◽  
Amy Oen ◽  
Stephan Pauleit
Keyword(s):  
Case Studies ◽  
River Restoration ◽  
Good Practice ◽  
Stakeholder Involvement ◽  
Mountain Forest ◽  
The European Union ◽  
Research And Innovation ◽  
Award Winning ◽  
Living Lab ◽  
Living Labs

Living Labs are recognized as a progressive form to foster innovation and the strengthening of collaborative planning. The concept has received strong attention by the European Union (EU) research and innovation agendas recently. This contribution investigates how a Living Lab approach could be used for the design and implementation of Nature-Based Solutions (NBS). NBS are gaining acceptance as a more sustainable solution for reducing the exposure to natural hazards and vulnerability to events, such as increased flooding in changing climate. However, a lack of collaborative approaches hinders their broader implementation. A literature review on the theoretical aspects of the Living Labs concept in the context of NBS is conducted, and we compare the theoretical findings with practices that were observed by case studies implementing NBS in a collaborative manner. The Isar-Plan River Restoration in Munich, Germany, and the Mountain Forest Initiative (Bergwaldoffensive). Both of the case studies have already started well before the concept of Living Labs gained wider popularity. Both award-winning cases are recognized good practice for their exemplary in-depth stakeholder involvement. The paper discusses the concepts and approaches of Living Labs and reflects on how it can serve and support in-depth participatory stakeholder involvement.

Living Labs towards sustainable groundwater management: case study in Malia, Crete, Greece

2021 ◽  
Author(s):  
George Karatzas ◽  
Anthi-Eirini Vozinaki ◽  
Ioannis Trichakis ◽  
Ioanna Anyfanti ◽  
Christina Stylianoydaki ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Water Management ◽  
European Union ◽  
Social Learning ◽  
Active Engagement ◽  
The European Union ◽  
Horizon 2020 ◽  
Research And Innovation ◽  
Living Lab ◽  
Living Labs ◽  
Common Vision

<p>This work carries the social learning process out via Living Labs in order to construct a common vision on sustainable groundwater management. In this process, the scientific and local knowledge are integrated. This study is part of Sustain-COAST project co-funded by PRIMA programme. Stakeholders’ active engagement is realized via Living Labs, which are participatory actions that encourage the dialogue among private and public actors, create institutionalized space for discussion and vision sharing, and analyze the stakeholder-suggested mitigation options.</p><p>A stakeholder mapping took place, that is  the list of all the key groups, organizations, and people involved to water management in the study area. Further analysis was carried out to better understand stakeholders’ roles and perspectives, within the first Living Lab, organized in Malia. 55 stakeholders interacted gathered, including water users, policy makers, local and regional authorities, water management and supply associations, socio-ecological and cultural associations, NGOs, citizens, technicians, external experts, scientists.</p><p>Stakeholders got involved in social learning actions, knowing each other, expressed their motivations and expectations to participate in the first Living Lab and the project. Afterwards, a participatory session followed by implementing digital ICT tools (Mentimeter App.), which is an opinion survey technique that might improve societal awareness and stakeholders’ active engagement in water management. Afterwards, an interactive participatory map activity took place, which enabled the study site’s characterization according to key-stakeholders’ perception, knowledge, and expertise on water management issues in the area. Stakeholders collaborated in groups and filled maps of the study area with significant spatial data and information. Participants were asked to express their common vision on Malia in an entertaining puzzle activity.</p><p>The aforementioned interactive sessions enabled the extraction of the raised water issues in Malia as well as the suggestion of possible options . The need for sustainable and balanced development taking into account principles of law and equal accessibility for all was specifically noted by stakeholders. Stakeholders evaluated the Living Labs as an innovative interactive and interesting way of exchanging views among institutions and citizens, through participation and technological means. Living Labs are expected to provide significant information exchange among institutions and actors and provide realistic and socially acceptable suggestions for the local community.</p><p>Stakeholders are directly involved and motivated to maintain their active engagement in a long-lasting process via future Living Labs in Malia. Such actions increase governance capacity by addressing people’s skills in jointly decision-making and engaging stakeholders in a social learning process through participation. Actions that encourage dialogue among different actors and use innovative mediation techniques form the best options to improve and integrate water governance.</p><p> </p><p><strong>Keywords</strong>: Living Labs; Innovative governance; Water resources management; Stakeholder mapping; Social learning processes; Stakeholders’ engagement</p><p> </p><p>The PRIMA programme is an Art.185 initiative supported and funded under Horizon 2020, the European Union’s Programme for Research and Innovation.</p><p>The project is funded by the General Secretariat for Research and Technology of the Ministry of Development and Investments under the PRIMA Programme. PRIMA is an Art.185 initiative supported and co-funded under Horizon 2020, the European Union’s Programme for Research and Innovation.</p><p><img src="https://contentmanager.copernicus.org/fileStorageProxy.php?f=gepj.5d2dd87d1fff54474550161/sdaolpUECMynit/12UGE&app=m&a=0&c=108f18affabce9ab1b71bad342e5afeb&ct=x&pn=gepj.elif&d=1" alt=""></p>

scholarly journals Applying an RRI Filter in Key Learning on Urban Living Labs’ Performance

2019 ◽  
Vol 11 (14) ◽  
pp. 3833 ◽  
Author(s):  
Marina Van Geenhuizen
Keyword(s):  
Power Distribution ◽  
Real Life ◽  
Urban Setting ◽  
Urban Living ◽  
Learning Framework ◽  
Research And Innovation ◽  
Living Lab ◽  
Living Labs ◽  
Responsible Research ◽  
Practical Implications

Urban living labs is a practical methodology in improving sustainability in cities by facilitating collaborative learning and innovation in a real-life environment, thereby mainly responding to the needs of users (citizens). The paper aims to filter a list of key learnings on urban living labs through the lens of Responsible Research and Innovation (RRI). One of the motivations is that key learnings on urban living labs are mainly derived from means-goal effectiveness (MGE) thinking while the urban setting calls for a broader perspective due to complexity and tension from the multi-actor, multifunctional, and multi-scalar character of cities. The filtering reveals almost 40 learnings as ‘overlap’ and ‘exclusive for MGE’. Importantly, five learnings are identified as specific for RRI and potentially enriching living lab methodology: ethical and normative principles like health, safety, security, and equality between societal groups, and a wider distribution of benefits and risks of living lab outcomes, in particular, contradictory sustainability issues. The RRI filtering causes three practical implications: coping with uneven power distribution between stakeholders, limited feasibility of applying the comprehensive learning framework, and challenges of overarching platform structures enabling to better incorporate RRI concerns in living lab methodology. The findings as presented in an adapted list are new, as RRI values and concerns have seldom been applied to practical innovation and have never been explicitly applied to urban living labs’ performance beyond the borders of effectiveness thinking.

scholarly journals Teaching university students co-creation and living lab methodologies through experiential learning activities and preparing them for RRI

2021 ◽  
Vol 27 (1) ◽  
pp. 146045822199120
Author(s):  
Evdokimos I Konstantinidis ◽  
Despoina Petsani ◽  
Panagiotis D Bamidis
Keyword(s):  
Experiential Learning ◽  
University Students ◽  
End Users ◽  
Learning Activities ◽  
User Centered Design ◽  
Scientific Publications ◽  
Research And Innovation ◽  
Living Lab ◽  
Living Labs ◽  
Innovation Approach

During the last decade, the living lab and co-creation concepts have started being blended with the Responsible Research and Innovation approach, aiming to evaluate potential societal anticipations toward fostering an inclusive RRI behavior. Teaching co-creation concept and living lab methodologies to university students has started been considered as valuable for future researchers along with the demand of companies and public sectors which turn toward user-center techniques for inspiration to develop innovative and services. To this end, the scientific publications presenting work on teaching co-creation and living lab methodologies are not so many while there are no published research studies on experiential learning activities for teaching co-creation and living lab approaches to university students. This study presents a course based on living labs and co-creation methodologies through experiential learning activities, consisted of four different lectures and an open event. The study involves stakeholders from the academia, the citizens, and the public sector. The results show that lectures with the participation of end-users were the most enjoyable. Furthermore, students thought that they learned the most when they first met the end-users. This lecture was perceived as a successful way to gain methodical knowledge for user-centered design and software development.

scholarly journals Living lab on sharing and circular economy: The case of Turin

2021 ◽  
Vol 27 (1) ◽  
pp. 146045822098727
Author(s):  
Federico Cuomo ◽  
Nadia Lambiase ◽  
Antonio Castagna
Keyword(s):  
Circular Economy ◽  
Common Ground ◽  
Swot Analysis ◽  
Research Question ◽  
Environmental Benefits ◽  
Production Cycle ◽  
Living Lab ◽  
Starting Point ◽  
Living Labs ◽  
Past Experiences

Cities with their innovative capacity are key places to address critical climate, environmental and health challenges. Urban experimentations, such as Living Labs, can represent a starting point to reintroduce resources into the production cycle and reduce environmental impacts, embracing the paradigm of the circular economy (CE). According to recent studies, Living Labs at a city scale could generate significant environmental benefits, improvements in quality of life and positive impacts on citizens’ health.1 This paper aims at presenting the case of the Torino Living Lab on Sharing and Circular Economy (LLSC) to point out possible future scenarios of urban sustainable policies. The case study is analysed in five sections: (1) the description of the new permanent laboratory proposed by the City of Turin; (2) the past experiences of Living Labs in Turin; (3) the birth of LLSC and the involvement strategy; (4) the introduction of the eight admitted experimentations. In the light of the results collected, the last paragraph (5) came up with the Strengths, Weaknesses, Opportunities, Treaths (SWOT) analysis in the LLSC. Eventually, it deals with the research question by offering a common ground for global and local policies focused on sustainability and CE.

scholarly journals Competency-Industry Relatedness (C-IR) Framework for Sustained Business Growth in Startups during and beyond Pandemic: Myths and Lessons from Publicly Funded Innovative Startups

2021 ◽  
Vol 13 (9) ◽  
pp. 4632
Author(s):  
Varun Gupta ◽  
Luis Rubalcaba
Keyword(s):  
Case Studies ◽  
Business Environment ◽  
Learning Curves ◽  
The European Union ◽  
Business Growth ◽  
Product Lines ◽  
Business Decisions ◽  
Multiple Case ◽  
Multiple Case Studies ◽  
Industry Relatedness

Context: The coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) pandemic led to a turbulent business environment, resulting in market uncertainties, frustrations, and rumors. Wrongly held beliefs—or myths—can hinder startups from turning new market opportunities into their favor (for example, by failing at diversification decisions) or undertaking wrong business decisions, e.g., diversifying in industries that have products of no real market value). Objectives: The objective of the paper is to identify the beliefs that drive the business decisions of startups in a pandemic and to isolate those beliefs that are merely myths. Further, this paper proposes strategic guidelines in the form of a framework to help startups make sound decisions that can lead to market success. Method: The two-step research method involved multiple case studies with five startups based in India, France, Italy, and Switzerland, to identify perceptual beliefs that drove strategic business decisions, followed by a case study of 36 COVID-19-solution focused startups, funded by the European Union (EU). The findings were validated through a survey that involved 102 entrepreneurs. The comparative analysis of two multiple case studies helped identify beliefs that were merely “myths”; myths that drove irrational strategic decisions, resulting in business failures. Results: The results indicate that startups make decisions in pandemic situations that are driven by seven myths, pertaining to human, intellectual, and financial resources. The decision on whether to diversify or continue in the same business operation can be divided into four strategic options of the Competency-Industry Relatedness (C-IR) framework: ignore, delay, phase-in, and diversify. Diversification in the same (or different industry) is less risky for startups if they have the skills, as needed, to diversify in related industries. Diversification in related industries helps startups leverage their experiences and learning curves (those associated with existing product lines) to adapt their existing products in new markets, or utilize their technologies to solve new problems via new products. The desired outcome for these startups should be sustainable business growth—to meet sustainability goals by contributing to the society and the economy. Conclusion: The C-IR framework is a strategic guide for startups to make business decisions based on internal factors, rather than myths. Accurately assessing skill diversity and the nature of new industries (or markets) will help startups leverage their existing resources optimally, without the need for (pricey) external funding. This will foster sustained business growth resulting in a nation economic development. Knowledge transfer from the Innovation ecosystem will further strengthen the C-IR framework effectiveness.

scholarly journals The Defining Characteristics of Agroecosystem Living Labs

2021 ◽  
Vol 13 (4) ◽  
pp. 1718
Author(s):  
Chris McPhee ◽  
Margaret Bancerz ◽  
Muriel Mambrini-Doudet ◽  
François Chrétien ◽  
Christian Huyghe ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Food Systems ◽  
Agricultural Sector ◽  
External Factors ◽  
Social Challenges ◽  
Rural Living ◽  
Living Lab ◽  
Challenges And Opportunities ◽  
Unique Nature ◽  
Living Labs ◽  
High Uncertainty

In response to environmental, economic, and social challenges, the living labs approach to innovation is receiving increasing attention within the agricultural sector. In this paper, we propose a set of defining characteristics for an emerging type of living lab intended to increase the sustainability and resilience of agriculture and agri-food systems: the “agroecosystem living lab”. Drawing on first-hand knowledge of case studies of large initiatives from Canada and France and supported by eight other cases from the literature, we highlight the unique nature of agroecosystem living labs and their distinct challenges with respect to their aims, activities, participants, and context. In particular, these living labs are characterized by exceptionally high levels of scientific research; long innovation cycles with high uncertainty due to external factors; and the high number and diversity of stakeholders involved. Both procedurally and conceptually, we link to earlier efforts undertaken by researchers seeking to identify urban living labs and rural living labs as distinct, new types of living labs. By highlighting what makes agroecosystem living labs unique and their commonalities with other types of living labs, we hope to encourage their further study and help practitioners better understand their implementation and operational challenges and opportunities.

scholarly journals A neutral core of degressively proportional allocations under lexicographic preferences of agents

2021 ◽  
Author(s):  
Katarzyna Cegiełka ◽  
Piotr Dniestrzański ◽  
Janusz Łyko ◽  
Arkadiusz Maciuk ◽  
Maciej Szczeciński
Keyword(s):  
European Union ◽  
Numerical Analysis ◽  
Theoretical Analysis ◽  
Boundary Conditions ◽  
Case Studies ◽  
The European Union ◽  
Practical Applications ◽  
Lexicographic Preferences ◽  
Degree Of Acceptance ◽  
Feasible Solutions

AbstractOne of the main problems of practical applications of degressively proportional allocations of goods and burdens is lack of uniqueness of this principle. Even under given boundary conditions of allocation, i.e. determined minimal and maximal amounts of a good that can be assigned in a given allocation, there are usually many feasible solutions. The lack of formal rules of allocation is the reason why the allocation is typically a result of negotiations among its agents. A number of allocations favor some of agents or their groups, therefore other agents cannot accept them. The aim of this paper is to indicate a way of reducing the set of all feasible solutions exclusively to those that are neutral to all agents. As a result of the term of lexicographic preference of allocation agents defined on the basis of the relation theory followed by a numerical analysis of sets of all feasible solutions, it is possible to determine a core of this set in the form of a subset of all feasible solutions that are acceptable by all agents. In addition, this subset can be further divided into smaller subsets with regard to the degree of acceptance of their elements. Theoretical analysis is complemented by case studies, one of which is application of this idea to the allocation of seats in the European Parliament among the member states of the European Union.

scholarly journals Citizen science – bridging the gap between scientists and amateurs

2019 ◽  
Vol 1 (2) ◽  
Author(s):  
Eva Stratilová Urválková ◽  
Svatava Janoušková
Keyword(s):  
Lifelong Learning ◽  
Citizen Science ◽  
Natural Science ◽  
Chemistry Education ◽  
Good Practice ◽  
The European Union ◽  
Early School ◽  
Wide Group ◽  
Small Team ◽  
The Eu

AbstractThe European Union has been facing common issues such as early school leaving and lifelong learning for years. They are main targets that remain on the EU agenda and all good practice examples are welcome. Citizen science is one of the approaches that seems to have great potential to draw a wide group of people to science in a popular way. People can easily become a part of a scientific team and contribute to research that could hardly be carried out by one small team. Many citizen science researchers deal with issues that are attractive for people because of their usefulness or application (gathering ticks, taking photographs of surroundings) and/or because of the accessibility of the data (typical for biological issues). This aspect also supports bridging the gap between citizens-amateurs and scientists-professionals, as well as lifelong learning. Chemistry is a natural science subject that is rarely performed in citizen science, and little research is devoted to the educational aspect of citizen science projects. Therefore, we present here a brief overview of an increasing scientific design that is widely used in natural science, although rarely in chemistry. Citizen science seems to be a potentially useful tool for improving chemistry education.

Monitoring and assessment of an oil spill event with very high resolution tools. 

2021 ◽  
Author(s):  
Ana M. Mancho ◽  
Guillermo García-Sánchez ◽  
Antonio G. Ramos ◽  
Josep Coca ◽  
Begoña Pérez-Gómez ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
High Resolution ◽  
Oil Spill ◽  
In Situ Observation ◽  
The European Union ◽  
Horizon 2020 ◽  
Research And Innovation ◽  
Port Authorities ◽  
Different Sources ◽  
Very High

<p>This presentation discusses a downstream application from Copernicus Services, developed in the framework of the IMPRESSIVE project, for the monitoring of  the oil spill produced after the crash of the ferry “Volcan de Tamasite” in waters of the Canary Islands on the 21<sup>st</sup> of April 2017. The presentation summarizes the findings of [1] that describe a complete monitoring of the diesel fuel spill, well-documented by port authorities. Complementary information supplied by different sources enhances the description of the event. We discuss the performance of very high resolution hydrodynamic models in the area of the Port of Gran Canaria and their ability for describing the evolution of this event. Dynamical systems ideas support the comparison of different models performance. Very high resolution remote sensing products and in situ observation validate the description.</p><p>Authors acknowledge support from IMPRESSIVE a project funded by the European Union’s Horizon 2020 research and innovation programme under grant agreement No 821922. SW acknowledges the support of ONR Grant No. N00014-01-1-0769</p><p><strong>References</strong></p><p>[1] G.García-Sánchez, A. M. Mancho, A. G. Ramos, J. Coca, B. Pérez-Gómez, E. Álvarez-Fanjul, M. G. Sotillo, M. García-León, V. J. García-Garrido, S. Wiggins. Very High Resolution Tools for the Monitoring and Assessment of Environmental Hazards in Coastal Areas.  Front. Mar. Sci. (2021) doi: 10.3389/fmars.2020.605804.</p>

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