4
W. Leal Filho
Higher education institutions have also been very diligent in reacting to the calls to
help to implement the SDGs (Leal Filho et al. 2018). Universities need to attend the
demand from students for new, learner-centred approaches to teaching, integrating
SD competences and fostering them in an interdisciplinary way, deploying for this
purpose innovative learning methodologies, teaching concepts and didactic tools.
Across the world, many initiatives have been started, and many are in the planning phases, to tackle the many changes related to the implementation of sustainable
development. There are also many tools being developed and deployed, to this purpose.
One of them is the “living labs” approach, which provides a sound basis for
the holistic tackling of sustainable development themes, with a variety of focus and
areas. Some of them are:
i. Waste
ii. Water
iii. Energy
iv. Ecosystems protection
v. Social issues, including social responsibility
among many others.
According to Liedtke et al. (2012), a living lab is a “combined lab-/household
system, analysing existing product-service-systems as well as technical and socioeconomic influences focused on the social needs of people, aiming at the development
of integrated technical and social innovations”.
As an example of what can be done, Masseck (2017) demonstrated the platform
“Living Lab LOW3”, which allows the creation of synergies between actors, programs and projects with an example from the building sector. As part of “Living Lab
LOW3”, stakeholders have the opportunity to participate in a community of users
beyond established academic structures.
Leal Filho (2015) explained the usefulness of the living labs approach as part of
transformative efforts.
But in order to succeed, a living labs approach need to consider not only the
need for innovative ways of teaching, but also more research and technology transfer
based on a strong interaction between the universities and their local and regional
communities.
Also, living labs need to encourage organisations to move forward, from being
based on individual activities towards a whole-institution approach as shown in Fig. 1.
One of the contributions the Living Labs approach can provide, is the support of
interactions between the academic sector and other parts of society, a goal achieved by
means of multi-stakeholder engagement in new open and experimentative processes
carried out in real world contexts. In this context, local stakeholders may be involved
in a variety of ways, for instance:
(a) by means of projects
(b) by means of sharing economy initiatives
(c) by means of tools to foster their participation and engagement
W. Leal Filho
Higher education institutions have also been very diligent in reacting to the calls to
help to implement the SDGs (Leal Filho et al. 2018). Universities need to attend the
demand from students for new, learner-centred approaches to teaching, integrating
SD competences and fostering them in an interdisciplinary way, deploying for this
purpose innovative learning methodologies, teaching concepts and didactic tools.
Across the world, many initiatives have been started, and many are in the planning phases, to tackle the many changes related to the implementation of sustainable
development. There are also many tools being developed and deployed, to this purpose.
One of them is the “living labs” approach, which provides a sound basis for
the holistic tackling of sustainable development themes, with a variety of focus and
areas. Some of them are:
i. Waste
ii. Water
iii. Energy
iv. Ecosystems protection
v. Social issues, including social responsibility
among many others.
According to Liedtke et al. (2012), a living lab is a “combined lab-/household
system, analysing existing product-service-systems as well as technical and socioeconomic influences focused on the social needs of people, aiming at the development
of integrated technical and social innovations”.
As an example of what can be done, Masseck (2017) demonstrated the platform
“Living Lab LOW3”, which allows the creation of synergies between actors, programs and projects with an example from the building sector. As part of “Living Lab
LOW3”, stakeholders have the opportunity to participate in a community of users
beyond established academic structures.
Leal Filho (2015) explained the usefulness of the living labs approach as part of
transformative efforts.
But in order to succeed, a living labs approach need to consider not only the
need for innovative ways of teaching, but also more research and technology transfer
based on a strong interaction between the universities and their local and regional
communities.
Also, living labs need to encourage organisations to move forward, from being
based on individual activities towards a whole-institution approach as shown in Fig. 1.
One of the contributions the Living Labs approach can provide, is the support of
interactions between the academic sector and other parts of society, a goal achieved by
means of multi-stakeholder engagement in new open and experimentative processes
carried out in real world contexts. In this context, local stakeholders may be involved
in a variety of ways, for instance:
(a) by means of projects
(b) by means of sharing economy initiatives
(c) by means of tools to foster their participation and engagement