Towards a Learning System
for University Campuses as Living Labs
for Sustainability
L. A. Verhoef, M. Bossert, J. Newman, F. Ferraz, Z. P. Robinson,
Y. Agarwala, Paul J. Wolff, III, P. Jiranek and C. Hellinga
Abstract Universities, due to their sizeable estates and populations of staff
and students, as well as their connections with, and impact within, their local and
wider communities, have significant environmental, social and economic impacts.
There is a strong movement for universities to become leaders in driving society
towards a more sustainable future, through improving the sustainability of the built
environment and the universities’ practices and operations, and through their educational, research and wider community engagement missions. Around the globe the
concept of ‘Living Labs’ has emerged as an instrument to integrate these different
aspects to deliver sustainability improvements, through engaging multiple stakeholders in all of these areas, and through the co-creation of projects to improve the
sustainability of the campus environment and operations, and to link these to the
education, research, and wider community missions of the institution. This chapter
describes a living, shared framework and methodology, the ‘Campus as Living Lab’
learning system, created through global participatory workshops and Living Lab
literature, aimed at supporting universities and their Sustainability (Coordinating)
Offices in the development and monitoring of Living Lab projects. The framework
includes seven categories of supportive data collection and three levels of details to
meet different requirements of potential users. The Living Lab framework presented
in this chapter, aims to create value and help universities maximise the benefit of
L. A. Verhoef (B) · Y. Agarwala · C. Hellinga
Delft University of Technology, Delft, Netherlands
e-mail: leendert.verhoef@ams-institute.org
J. Newman · P. J. Wolff, III
Massachusetts Institute of Technology, Cambridge, MA, USA
F. Ferraz
Dublin Institute of Technology, Dublin, Republic of Ireland
P. Jiranek
ETH Zurich, Zurich, Switzerland
Z. P. Robinson
Keele University, Staffordshire, UK
M. Bossert
Hochschule Für Technik Stuttgart, Stuttgart, Germany
© Springer Nature Switzerland AG 2020
W. Leal Filho et al. (eds.), Universities as Living Labs for Sustainable Development,
World Sustainability Series, https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-030-15604-6_9
135
for University Campuses as Living Labs
for Sustainability
L. A. Verhoef, M. Bossert, J. Newman, F. Ferraz, Z. P. Robinson,
Y. Agarwala, Paul J. Wolff, III, P. Jiranek and C. Hellinga
Abstract Universities, due to their sizeable estates and populations of staff
and students, as well as their connections with, and impact within, their local and
wider communities, have significant environmental, social and economic impacts.
There is a strong movement for universities to become leaders in driving society
towards a more sustainable future, through improving the sustainability of the built
environment and the universities’ practices and operations, and through their educational, research and wider community engagement missions. Around the globe the
concept of ‘Living Labs’ has emerged as an instrument to integrate these different
aspects to deliver sustainability improvements, through engaging multiple stakeholders in all of these areas, and through the co-creation of projects to improve the
sustainability of the campus environment and operations, and to link these to the
education, research, and wider community missions of the institution. This chapter
describes a living, shared framework and methodology, the ‘Campus as Living Lab’
learning system, created through global participatory workshops and Living Lab
literature, aimed at supporting universities and their Sustainability (Coordinating)
Offices in the development and monitoring of Living Lab projects. The framework
includes seven categories of supportive data collection and three levels of details to
meet different requirements of potential users. The Living Lab framework presented
in this chapter, aims to create value and help universities maximise the benefit of
L. A. Verhoef (B) · Y. Agarwala · C. Hellinga
Delft University of Technology, Delft, Netherlands
e-mail: leendert.verhoef@ams-institute.org
J. Newman · P. J. Wolff, III
Massachusetts Institute of Technology, Cambridge, MA, USA
F. Ferraz
Dublin Institute of Technology, Dublin, Republic of Ireland
P. Jiranek
ETH Zurich, Zurich, Switzerland
Z. P. Robinson
Keele University, Staffordshire, UK
M. Bossert
Hochschule Für Technik Stuttgart, Stuttgart, Germany
© Springer Nature Switzerland AG 2020
W. Leal Filho et al. (eds.), Universities as Living Labs for Sustainable Development,
World Sustainability Series, https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-030-15604-6_9
135