A project with UAB involvement to create a distributed living lab in Europe

New technologies have facilitated the creation of interdisciplinary projects focusing mainly on local solutions. While many have been successfully developed, the potential for learning and replicating methodologies, processes and tools in different cultural and geographical settings is not yet fully understood.

Researchers from the Universitat Autònoma de Barcelona, the University of Twente, and the University of Stavanger, all coordinated by Linköping University, have created the ECIU-Urban Transformation Collaboratory (ECIU-UTC) consortium, which aims to design a virtual test bed and innovation arena, a distributed living lab, to strengthen the capacities of initiatives oriented towards urban sustainability transformations through transversal learning.

This seed project, within the framework of the SMART-ER research institute, extends the existing research and innovation initiatives of the ECIU University by linking the living labs established in the universities that are part of the consortium and the citizen science projects run by the partners and their regional ecosystems.

Under the framework of the project, four collaborative workshops have been held in each of the partner cities to share visions, experiences, knowledge and practices that will result in a roadmap for the creation of future distributed living labs as well as collaborative learning communities, either inside or outside the ECIU.

The UAB team focus on the adaptation and development of learning tools and methods in which project participants will engage face-to-face and online, alternating practical and critical reflections, with the aim of transforming the ECIU network of open labs and living labs into a single distributed European laboratory, where participation and collaboration is not limited by physical location.
 
SMART-ER

The ECIU University Research Institute for Smart European Regions (SMART-ER) is a research, innovation and education alliance enabling all member universities to jointly address complex societal challenges that form part of the United Nations Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) framework, in order to make cities and human settlements inclusive, safe, resilient and sustainable. The aim of the project is to support the research and innovation dimension of the ECIU University, following its shared, integrated and long-term strategy, and in synergy with its educational dimension. There are currently 17 SMART-ER research projects, funded by the Seed programme and by the Citizen Science pilot programme, 7 of which involve the UAB: BiciZen, CARE Citizen Arenas, ECIU-UTC, EASEM, INSCE, BrownBin, and RN4EUHEALTH.