Anticipating experimentation as the ‘the new normal’ through urban living labs 2.0: lessons learnt by JPI Urban Europe

Abstract

Urban living labs (ULLs) can be an important way to approach multi-stakeholder co-creation with regard to urban transitions and transformations. They have become a common type of co-creative experimentation, offering the opportunity to research and innovate on a wide variety of challenges in everyday settings. They test hypotheses to create pathways for a transition to sustainable urbanisation. However, there is mounting concern from practice, innovators, and research that there is little systematic integration of practical outputs. Moreover, the question of how ULLs should be designed, and by whom, requires comparative longer-term assessment. Implementation and operation requires knowledge of the risks involved. The long-term impacts of ULLs on particular places, and the general understanding of how they contribute to urban transformations, are not well theorized. Thus, intended and potential contributions to urban transformations could remain unrealized. Based on experience from a series of stakeholder dialogues and co-production formats at various ULL related conferences and workshop, this paper offers policy recommendations and directions regarding the future direction for JPI Urban Europe its main programme for 2021–2027, the European Partnership Driving Urban Transitions to a Sustainable Future in the Horizon Europe Framework Programme. It may also help other urban research and innovation funders and programming actors support sustainable transformations through urban living labs.

Transformative Capacity Building by Systematic Use of Urban Living Labs: A Case Study of Alytus, Lithuania

“…They have become a common type of co-creative experimentation, offering the opportunity to research and innovate on a wide variety of challenges in everyday settings. They test hypotheses to create pathways for a transition to sustainable urbanisation (Bylund et al, 2023).…”

StadtTeilen

“…Die Aquilué et al, 2021;Bylund et al, 2022;Petrescu et al, 2022). Im entwickelten Praxislabor wurden Kooperationsprozesse zwischen verschiedenen Akteur*innen initiiert und begleitet.…”

Unterwegs in die Stadt der Zukunft

“…In den letzten Jahren sind umfangreiche theoretische Abhandlungen über diese "Co-Creation" genannten Mitgestaltungsprozesse entstanden und in Reallaboren getestet worden (vgl. Puerari et al, 2018;Frantzeskaki et al, 2018;Bylund et al, 2022) Co-Creation ist ein ergebnisoffener Prozess, der mit traditionellen Planungsprozessen, Entscheidungsstrukturen und Zuständigkeiten kollidieren kann, aber auch vielfältige Anwendungsmöglichkeiten für jede Phase des städtischen Umbaus bereithält. Diese Form der Mitgestaltung ist ein gemeinsamer Lernprozess und ein zeitintensives Abenteuer für die beteiligten Akteure und Akteurinnen.…”