8
W. Leal Filho
Theme 1: Political, social and economic dimensions of sustainable development
Theme 2: Environmental and technological dimensions of sustainable development
Theme 3: Holistic approaches to sustainable development
Theme 4: Stakeholders’ engagement in sustainable development
Theme 5: Education for sustainable development.
ESSSR is a worthy investment to its members for a number of reasons:
(a) members can join efforts to perform works on sustainability in an integrated
way and do not work alone.
(b) ESSSR supports the research strategies of member universities in four central
areas:
(i) internationalisation by being part of a strong European consortium, collaborating with many member universities;
(ii) increase in the income from research projects by having qualitatively and
quantitatively more projects on sustainability issues;
(iii) training of more Ph.D. students, by means of joint supervisions of more
Ph.D. theses and post-doctoral fellows, engaging interested professors
from different Faculties;
(iv) fosters technology transfer by bringing the results of scientific projects to
use, supporting societal changes
(c) ESSSR equally fosters teaching (by digital means) and research, with contents
which may be beneficial to many university students
(d) It enhances the image of the member universities as internationally-oriented
research organisations, and markets them internationally as key players on the
subject
(e) The new projects generated, automatically lead to additional income and overheads
(f) The investment needed is modest, with an office and contact person to serve as
the link and coordinate the inputs of each member university.
Finally, being part of an institution such as ESSSR assists members’ efforts to
access mainstream funding from research, being part of many other projects, hence
increasing their presence in the international research arena.
4 Conclusions
The Living Lab approach provides opportunities to both students and research staff
to engage more on social, economic and environmental sustainability, both within a
university’s setting and outside it.
In order to yield the expected benefits, living labs should draw on the available
expertise of staff and the inherent talent of students, as well as take into account inputs
W. Leal Filho
Theme 1: Political, social and economic dimensions of sustainable development
Theme 2: Environmental and technological dimensions of sustainable development
Theme 3: Holistic approaches to sustainable development
Theme 4: Stakeholders’ engagement in sustainable development
Theme 5: Education for sustainable development.
ESSSR is a worthy investment to its members for a number of reasons:
(a) members can join efforts to perform works on sustainability in an integrated
way and do not work alone.
(b) ESSSR supports the research strategies of member universities in four central
areas:
(i) internationalisation by being part of a strong European consortium, collaborating with many member universities;
(ii) increase in the income from research projects by having qualitatively and
quantitatively more projects on sustainability issues;
(iii) training of more Ph.D. students, by means of joint supervisions of more
Ph.D. theses and post-doctoral fellows, engaging interested professors
from different Faculties;
(iv) fosters technology transfer by bringing the results of scientific projects to
use, supporting societal changes
(c) ESSSR equally fosters teaching (by digital means) and research, with contents
which may be beneficial to many university students
(d) It enhances the image of the member universities as internationally-oriented
research organisations, and markets them internationally as key players on the
subject
(e) The new projects generated, automatically lead to additional income and overheads
(f) The investment needed is modest, with an office and contact person to serve as
the link and coordinate the inputs of each member university.
Finally, being part of an institution such as ESSSR assists members’ efforts to
access mainstream funding from research, being part of many other projects, hence
increasing their presence in the international research arena.
4 Conclusions
The Living Lab approach provides opportunities to both students and research staff
to engage more on social, economic and environmental sustainability, both within a
university’s setting and outside it.
In order to yield the expected benefits, living labs should draw on the available
expertise of staff and the inherent talent of students, as well as take into account inputs