11 Real-World Laboratories Initiated by Practitioner …
217
investigating the abstract format of transformation in the real-world laboratory as a
physical environment.
Owing to their origins, urban laboratories are likewise primarily practiceoriented. Potential changes in the practices of resource utilisation by municipal stakeholders play a key role in the selection of neighbourhoods, and therefore also in the
constitution of the problem, the institutions and people involved, and the methods
and intensity of participation. This framework also yields a wide range of options for
sustainability research and scientific evidence (e.g. the methodological operationalisation of the characteristics of re-productivity in criteria for assessing technical and
socio-economic solutions) (Schön et al. 2013).
The strong practical orientation in the EAA real-world laboratories necessitates a
careful reflection and evaluation of the approaches taken so as to be able to make statements on the effect of interventions and on the course of transformation processes
in real-world laboratories. The small scale and reach of the measures that can be
implemented concerning sustainable urban development generally make it difficult
to formulate transferable results, which is currently being hotly discussed as a general
phenomenon of real-world laboratories.
5 One cannot help but suspect that a specific
contribution to resource efficiency or a viable use of renewable energies in a certain
neighbourhood arises more by accident than by design due to a certain constellation of problems and stakeholders. It is then impossible to repeat such a success at
other locations. The result is that strong practical orientation represents a restriction,
especially for scientific partners. Then again, precisely these small-scale changes
can occur and be documented in the Anhalt Real-World Laboratory. These are the
small steps that represent the details of social transformation, which is ultimately of
greater significance from a practical point of view.
11.3.4 Regarding Civil Society Orientation, Participation
This characteristic exhibits the biggest difference between the state of the scientific
discussion and the approaches taken by the EAA real-world laboratories. The drive
to initiate the Anhalt Real-World Laboratory came from civil society, which involved
scientists in the project as strong partners. The initiative for the BMBF joint research
project and its urban laboratories also came from EAA. As such, the direction of
activity is opposite to the characteristic portrayed in the literature. The idea for a scientifically supported, experimental transformation of the regional energy system arose
from the realisation that the special constellation of stakeholders seeking change
and the decisive issue of regional energy supply involving the broader shaping and
economic participation of the population became apparent as an opportunity for innovative action. Although science, lobby institutions and financial backers were then
involved in the subsequent establishment of the Anhalt Real-World Laboratory at the
5 Concerning this, see also, e.g. Krohn et al. (2017) and www.td-academy.de (last accessed on 16
July 2019).
217
investigating the abstract format of transformation in the real-world laboratory as a
physical environment.
Owing to their origins, urban laboratories are likewise primarily practiceoriented. Potential changes in the practices of resource utilisation by municipal stakeholders play a key role in the selection of neighbourhoods, and therefore also in the
constitution of the problem, the institutions and people involved, and the methods
and intensity of participation. This framework also yields a wide range of options for
sustainability research and scientific evidence (e.g. the methodological operationalisation of the characteristics of re-productivity in criteria for assessing technical and
socio-economic solutions) (Schön et al. 2013).
The strong practical orientation in the EAA real-world laboratories necessitates a
careful reflection and evaluation of the approaches taken so as to be able to make statements on the effect of interventions and on the course of transformation processes
in real-world laboratories. The small scale and reach of the measures that can be
implemented concerning sustainable urban development generally make it difficult
to formulate transferable results, which is currently being hotly discussed as a general
phenomenon of real-world laboratories.
5 One cannot help but suspect that a specific
contribution to resource efficiency or a viable use of renewable energies in a certain
neighbourhood arises more by accident than by design due to a certain constellation of problems and stakeholders. It is then impossible to repeat such a success at
other locations. The result is that strong practical orientation represents a restriction,
especially for scientific partners. Then again, precisely these small-scale changes
can occur and be documented in the Anhalt Real-World Laboratory. These are the
small steps that represent the details of social transformation, which is ultimately of
greater significance from a practical point of view.
11.3.4 Regarding Civil Society Orientation, Participation
This characteristic exhibits the biggest difference between the state of the scientific
discussion and the approaches taken by the EAA real-world laboratories. The drive
to initiate the Anhalt Real-World Laboratory came from civil society, which involved
scientists in the project as strong partners. The initiative for the BMBF joint research
project and its urban laboratories also came from EAA. As such, the direction of
activity is opposite to the characteristic portrayed in the literature. The idea for a scientifically supported, experimental transformation of the regional energy system arose
from the realisation that the special constellation of stakeholders seeking change
and the decisive issue of regional energy supply involving the broader shaping and
economic participation of the population became apparent as an opportunity for innovative action. Although science, lobby institutions and financial backers were then
involved in the subsequent establishment of the Anhalt Real-World Laboratory at the
5 Concerning this, see also, e.g. Krohn et al. (2017) and www.td-academy.de (last accessed on 16
July 2019).