The Transdisciplinary Living Lab Model (TDLL)
173
where students can “discover[…], examine and fail” in a “safe environment” and
that the exchange of knowledge supported by Living Labs taps into the underutilised
“brain power” of the entire university, including its stakeholders (Graczyk 2015,
p. 32). The university has the potential therefore, to act as a local focus point for
broader global concerns such as is represented by the SDGs. We can see a strong
relationship between the sustainability-focused Living Lab and Jahn et al.’s (2012)
characterisation of transdisciplinarity. Problems are discovered rather than solved,
which makes the Living Lab an ideal context for transdisciplinary learning and normalizes education for sustainable development.
The relationship between ‘transdisciplinarity’ and living laboratories is not new.
For example, Scholz and Marks (2001, pp. 251–52) have advocated for ‘transdisciplinary laboratories’ where scientists and practitioners work together for mutual
benefit over periods of time. The novel approach taken by the authors is in implementing ‘transdisciplinary living laboratories’ as an educational platform and site for
mutual learning of university operational staff and students. The expanding location
of transdisciplinary research has the potential to ‘heighten awareness of the public space, and amplify the concepts of deliberative democracy and socially robust
knowledge’ (Klein 2017, p. 12).
3 Operationalizing the Transdisciplinary Living Lab
Model (TDLL)
The TDLL was designed and delivered to students in three distinct and iterative
stages (see Fig. 1.) which included:
(1) Entering the living lab: introducing collaborative teamwork processes, expectations of joint problem formulation and critical reflection on students’ impact
on the food waste system
(2) Transdisciplinary learning: introduction to the concept of co-producing and
integrating knowledge in collaboration with transdisciplinary partners and
actors in the system and research as a process of system intervention
(3) Global context: introducing the SDGs and planetary boundaries as guiding
frameworks to develop, refine and justify final designs, articulating global
impact of local practice and defining the implementation and assessment of
societal and scientific outcomes of the final design solutions.
Our approach in the TDLL was to integrate critical TD skills including collaboration, communication and knowledge integration (Fam 2017) with design specific
competencies to generate a system-sensitive design curriculum. The TDLL not only
required students to develop design interventions/improvements to complex challenges (such as food waste) but also consider the broader impact of their designs
in regard to the SDGs and planetary boundaries. The TDLL model was developed
and iterated as a third-year design studio (2016, 2017) closely involving students,
industry, government, facilities management experts and design and sustainability
173
where students can “discover[…], examine and fail” in a “safe environment” and
that the exchange of knowledge supported by Living Labs taps into the underutilised
“brain power” of the entire university, including its stakeholders (Graczyk 2015,
p. 32). The university has the potential therefore, to act as a local focus point for
broader global concerns such as is represented by the SDGs. We can see a strong
relationship between the sustainability-focused Living Lab and Jahn et al.’s (2012)
characterisation of transdisciplinarity. Problems are discovered rather than solved,
which makes the Living Lab an ideal context for transdisciplinary learning and normalizes education for sustainable development.
The relationship between ‘transdisciplinarity’ and living laboratories is not new.
For example, Scholz and Marks (2001, pp. 251–52) have advocated for ‘transdisciplinary laboratories’ where scientists and practitioners work together for mutual
benefit over periods of time. The novel approach taken by the authors is in implementing ‘transdisciplinary living laboratories’ as an educational platform and site for
mutual learning of university operational staff and students. The expanding location
of transdisciplinary research has the potential to ‘heighten awareness of the public space, and amplify the concepts of deliberative democracy and socially robust
knowledge’ (Klein 2017, p. 12).
3 Operationalizing the Transdisciplinary Living Lab
Model (TDLL)
The TDLL was designed and delivered to students in three distinct and iterative
stages (see Fig. 1.) which included:
(1) Entering the living lab: introducing collaborative teamwork processes, expectations of joint problem formulation and critical reflection on students’ impact
on the food waste system
(2) Transdisciplinary learning: introduction to the concept of co-producing and
integrating knowledge in collaboration with transdisciplinary partners and
actors in the system and research as a process of system intervention
(3) Global context: introducing the SDGs and planetary boundaries as guiding
frameworks to develop, refine and justify final designs, articulating global
impact of local practice and defining the implementation and assessment of
societal and scientific outcomes of the final design solutions.
Our approach in the TDLL was to integrate critical TD skills including collaboration, communication and knowledge integration (Fam 2017) with design specific
competencies to generate a system-sensitive design curriculum. The TDLL not only
required students to develop design interventions/improvements to complex challenges (such as food waste) but also consider the broader impact of their designs
in regard to the SDGs and planetary boundaries. The TDLL model was developed
and iterated as a third-year design studio (2016, 2017) closely involving students,
industry, government, facilities management experts and design and sustainability