Labs in the Real World: Advancing Transdisciplinary Research and Sustainability Transformation: Mapping the Field and Emerging Lines of Inquiry

Schäpke, Niko; Bergmann, Matthias; Stelzer, Franziska; Lang, Daniel J.

doi:10.14512/gaia.27.s1.4

Cited by 58 publications

(35 citation statements)

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“…Specifically, this has involved creating more opportunities for solutions-based pedagogy, often guided by collaboration with partners outside academia (this could include operational staff at the university, civil society organizations, or private sector actors) [7]. This educational strategy is called the "Living Lab" approach at U of T, also called "real-world laboratories," "urban living labs," and "sustainability learning labs" [8][9][10]. HEIs employing the model demonstrate a few consistent principles across "Living Lab" activities [9,11,12]:…”

Section: Contextmentioning

confidence: 99%

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Expanding Student Engagement in Sustainability: Using SDG- and CEL-Focused Inventories to Transform Curriculum at the University of Toronto

et al. 2019

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The Expanded Student Engagement Project (ESE) has developed three comprehensive inventories which aim to increase student knowledge of sustainability-related course content and increase student engagement in on- and off-campus, curricular, and non-curricular sustainability projects at the University of Toronto (U of T). The first is a sustainability course inventory (SCI) generated using keyword search based on the UN Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs). This is the first SCI that has been based on the SDGs. The inventory identified 2022 unique sustainability courses and found that SDG 13 had the greatest representation and SDG 6 had the least. The second inventory is a community-engaged learning (CEL) sustainability inventory which found 154 sustainability-focused CEL courses and identified 86 faculty members who teach sustainability CEL. Finally, an inventory of sustainability co-curricular and extracurricular opportunities revealed that U of T has 67 sustainability-focused student groups and identified 263 sustainability-focused opportunities. These inventories are an important foundation for future initiatives to increase student engagement in sustainability on campus and in the community. The ESE will integrate this data into U of T’s course management system and use the inventories to develop a new sustainability pathways program.

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Section: Contextmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…This educational strategy is called the "Living Lab" approach at U of T, also called "real-world laboratories," "urban living labs," and "sustainability learning labs" [8][9][10]. HEIs employing the model demonstrate a few consistent principles across "Living Lab" activities [9,11,12]:…”

Section: Contextmentioning

confidence: 99%

Expanding Student Engagement in Sustainability: Using SDG- and CEL-Focused Inventories to Transform Curriculum at the University of Toronto

et al. 2019

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“…This backlash made clear that it would take a longer breath, a more systemic perspective in research, as well as stakeholder mobilization and the building of policy alliances [8]. In other terms, we were heading for a "real world lab" to achieve a sustainable pathway for Samothraki [10,11].…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Samothraki in Transition: A Report on a Real-World Lab to Promote the Sustainability of a Greek Island

et al. 2020

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This is a case study on a small mountainous island in the Aegean Sea with the policy goal of preparing it to become member of UNESCO's World Network of Biosphere Reserves. While the local community opted for such an identity very early on, there are a number of obstacles to be overcome. The multidisciplinary research is based upon a sociometabolic approach and focuses on two issues: The transformation of agriculture, mainly herding of sheep and goats, and the shift to tourism. The degradation of the landscape caused by extensive roaming of goats and sheep constitute one of the major sustainability challenges of the island. We analyze farmers' opportunities and describe new initiatives to get out of this deadlock. The impacts of the transition to tourism are addressed from an infrastructural perspective: A shift from traditional stone buildings to bricks and concrete, the establishment of new roads and ports, and the challenges to water supply and wastewater removal, also with reference to the quality and amounts of wastes generated that need to be dealt with. The island has so far escaped mass tourism and attracts mainly eco-tourists who value its remoteness and wilderness. We discuss how to serve this clientele best in the future, and increase local job opportunities and income while maintaining environmental quality. Finally, we reflect upon emerging new forms of local collaboration and the impact of our research efforts on a sustainability transition that might be on its way.

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“…Universities with sustainability expertise can be strong partners for cities interested in and incumbent to implement sustainability measures [4,5]. CUPs are increasingly common in sustainability science and practice and represent a new functional paradigm for both partners [6,7]. Through CUPs, university actors and city administrations produce scientific and action-oriented knowledge that contribute to addressing local sustainability challenges.…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…The smart city movement has also viewed cities as test beds for smart technologies [20,21]. New research seeks to integrate smart and sustainable cities concepts and urban labs have been developed that utilize smart technologies in the service of sustainability objectives [7,22]. To close the gap between knowledge generated in the lab and the knowledge necessary for action in the real-world, these "living labs", "transition labs" or "real-world labs" are developed at the university-city interface [2,17,23].…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Transferring Sustainability Solutions across Contexts through City–University Partnerships

et al. 2018

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Abstract:The urgency of climate change and other sustainability challenges makes transferring and scaling solutions between cities a necessity. However, solutions are deeply contextual. To accelerate solution efforts, there is a need to understand how context shapes the development of solutions. Universities are well positioned to work with cities on transferring solutions from and to other cities. This paper analyses five case studies of city-university partnerships in three countries on transferring solutions. Our analysis suggests that understanding the interest, the action on sustainability, and the individual and collective sustainability competences on the part of the city administration and the university can help facilitate the transfer of sustainability solutions across contexts. We conclude that the nature of the city-university partnership is essential to solution transfer and that new and existing networks can be used to accelerate progress on the 2030 United Nations Sustainable Development Goals.

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Labs in the Real World: Advancing Transdisciplinary Research and Sustainability Transformation: Mapping the Field and Emerging Lines of Inquiry

Cited by 58 publications

References 0 publications

Expanding Student Engagement in Sustainability: Using SDG- and CEL-Focused Inventories to Transform Curriculum at the University of Toronto

Expanding Student Engagement in Sustainability: Using SDG- and CEL-Focused Inventories to Transform Curriculum at the University of Toronto

Samothraki in Transition: A Report on a Real-World Lab to Promote the Sustainability of a Greek Island

Transferring Sustainability Solutions across Contexts through City–University Partnerships

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