The role of Living Labs

Showcase interventions for sustainable and inclusive development, building on the New Urban Agenda and the Paris Agreement.
Linking key sectors and actors is a vital step towards an integrated approach that supports the decarbonisation of urban systems and delivers liveable, accessible cities for all.
Testing innovative solutions in urban living labs can be a key steppingstone; transferring these learnings into scaled-up public or private sector actions is then a vital next step towards transformative change.

The Living Lab Co-development Approach

The basic concept of the Living Lab approach is fairly simple. Its core component is the co-development of solutions among partners from the public and private sectors, civil society and academia. The basics on the concepts and approach are summarised in a short paper.

The co-development of at the Urban Living Lab Center focuses on integrating research and innovation across five pillars:

Inform

Boost capabilities, provide tools to plan, assess and implement

Inspire

Foster the take-up by inspiring through peer-to-peer exchange

Initiate

Strengthen collaboration by initiating partnerships

Implement

Create reference models by implementing demonstration actions

Impact

Scale-up, replication and transfer

Creating a Safe System for Decarbonised, Sustainable Cities

A Safe System approach moves away from the perspective that individuals are at fault when choosing carbon-intensive energy and mobility solutions, and instead focuses on the systemic change needed to enable universal access to low-carbon, sustainable infrastructures and services.

Transitioning to a Safe System approach for sustainable, decarbonised cities can build on years of experience from the road safety realm, beginning with the first adoption of “vision zero” in Sweden in 1997, which has revolutionised the approach to improving road safety. There are now plenty of technological and operational options readily available which can drastically reduce CO2 emissions and improve the quality of life in cities. Part of this approach is providing users with more sustainable choices and clear signals of preference—for example, through pricing or regulation.

To adopt a Safe System approach, improved capacities and a better understanding of the needs and opportunities for key players in the sector is important, including: local and national authorities, industry; service providers and infrastructure developers. These are essential building blocks for the transition towards sustainable urban development.