Campus as a Living Lab

The University Campus as a Living Lab for Sustainability – a practitioners Guide and Handbook; L.A Verhoef and M. Bossert (2019)

A forgotten area now gaining traction are the campus facilities and community as an informal learning environment and test-bed for students and researchers and to show-how their innovations. Universities worldwide have a significant ecological footprint themselves.

The authors investigated and analysed university Living Labs for Sustainability by structuring, comparing, and monitoring university campus transformational processes, and using the lessons learned actively to help modify and strengthen operations in our own and other campuses. Creating a common language, and taking a modest approach, advocating sharing and co-creation rather than ownership of the system are important success factors.

This initiative has led to a draft common framework and a handbook.