Living labs (LLs) are open innovation ecosystems in real-life environments that uses iterative feedback processes to grow and evolve. It focuses on co-creation; rapid prototyping, testing and scaling-up innovations; and providing (different types of) joint-value to the involved stakeholders.
Living labs operate as intermediaries/orchestrators among citizens, research organisations, companies and government agencies/levels. (European Network of Living Labs)
In this context, the living labs approach would embed research in implementation programmes of a large scale from their inception, and help expand interventions by bridging the knowledge gaps with multi-stakeholder inputs.
To conduct research in living labs, we don’t just need new tools and methodologies, but also new institutions, alliances and funding mechanisms. (Sreenivasan, 2022)
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