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development activities. This principle of strong practical orientation can be adapted
accordingly to current circumstances and needs at the specific project level.
One example are the urban laboratories in the BMBF joint research project entitled “The re-productive town”; these feature an explicit research orientation. The
research questions were defined jointly by the scientific partners and the practice partners (co-design); they are accessible for scientific analysis and for practical changes
for transformation towards sustainability.
11.3.2 Regarding Normativity
The normative orientation towards sustainability is one of the association’s implicit
statutory objectives and, as such, of the Anhalt Real-World Laboratory. This orientation is specified in the association’s statutes on objectives such as to contribute
to environmental protection and climate action, and the objective to conserve the
natural basis of life.
In urban laboratories, the normative assumptions, principles and objectives
regarding the reference to the concept of re-productivity by Biesecker and Hofmeister
(2006) are made explicit. In this context, the following insight was gained from
ongoing work: scientific partners proceed in accordance with elaborated sustainability concepts in real-world laboratories, and it would be helpful for companies,
civil society organisations, other institutions and local authorities to use or develop
concrete tools in the practical implementation of real-world laboratories. Examples
that would make the integrative concept of sustainability tangible for practitioners
in the process include environmental protection concepts, corporate social responsibility standards, a local climate action plan, the European Energy Award and other
quality management systems. It may also be helpful in this context to adapt for
practical use scientific-theoretical sustainability approaches such as the concept of
re-productivity in an intermediate step, and to prepare such approaches for practical
implementation in the real world (Yildiz et al. 2012).
11.3.3 Regarding Transformativity
In the Anhalt Real-World Laboratory, the EAA association focuses primarily on the
shaping of society in terms of the energy transition, mainly by way of local experimental contributions. To do this, EAA draws on findings resulting from sustainability research. The work of EEA backs two aspects of real-world laboratories:
first, the Anhalt Real-World Laboratory sees itself as an element of various niche
experiments embedded in structuring processes somewhere between the niche level
and the regime level. Second, in line with its objective, the work performed by the
association should help further develop transformative sciences by portraying and
H. Kanning et al.
development activities. This principle of strong practical orientation can be adapted
accordingly to current circumstances and needs at the specific project level.
One example are the urban laboratories in the BMBF joint research project entitled “The re-productive town”; these feature an explicit research orientation. The
research questions were defined jointly by the scientific partners and the practice partners (co-design); they are accessible for scientific analysis and for practical changes
for transformation towards sustainability.
11.3.2 Regarding Normativity
The normative orientation towards sustainability is one of the association’s implicit
statutory objectives and, as such, of the Anhalt Real-World Laboratory. This orientation is specified in the association’s statutes on objectives such as to contribute
to environmental protection and climate action, and the objective to conserve the
natural basis of life.
In urban laboratories, the normative assumptions, principles and objectives
regarding the reference to the concept of re-productivity by Biesecker and Hofmeister
(2006) are made explicit. In this context, the following insight was gained from
ongoing work: scientific partners proceed in accordance with elaborated sustainability concepts in real-world laboratories, and it would be helpful for companies,
civil society organisations, other institutions and local authorities to use or develop
concrete tools in the practical implementation of real-world laboratories. Examples
that would make the integrative concept of sustainability tangible for practitioners
in the process include environmental protection concepts, corporate social responsibility standards, a local climate action plan, the European Energy Award and other
quality management systems. It may also be helpful in this context to adapt for
practical use scientific-theoretical sustainability approaches such as the concept of
re-productivity in an intermediate step, and to prepare such approaches for practical
implementation in the real world (Yildiz et al. 2012).
11.3.3 Regarding Transformativity
In the Anhalt Real-World Laboratory, the EAA association focuses primarily on the
shaping of society in terms of the energy transition, mainly by way of local experimental contributions. To do this, EAA draws on findings resulting from sustainability research. The work of EEA backs two aspects of real-world laboratories:
first, the Anhalt Real-World Laboratory sees itself as an element of various niche
experiments embedded in structuring processes somewhere between the niche level
and the regime level. Second, in line with its objective, the work performed by the
association should help further develop transformative sciences by portraying and