UK Living Labs Event

2nd February 2017

The EAUC Living Labs event brought together a diverse mix of academic staff and professional staff from 30 institutions to discuss the potential and future of the Living Labs in the tertiary education sector. The event was opened by a welcome and introduction by Iain Patton, EAUC Chief Executive. That was followed by a presentation and open discussion of the draft Living Labs research from EAUC Researcher Hassan Waheed. Discussions included the EAUC LL Report and LL Model, along with its potential as a useful guidance for Living Labs in universities and colleges nationally as well as globally.
 
Morning workshops
 
How to Set Up and Scale a Living Lab – James Evans, Professor in Human Geography, University of Manchester.
Living Labs can be complicated and multi-faceted initiatives to implement. James drew from his significant experience as a LL practitioner to share how they can be more effectively implemented and scaled.


Understanding Each Other: The Relationship Between the Academy and Operations – Emily Dunning, Living Laboratory for Sustainability Coordinator, University of Cambridge 
It can often be challenging to manage the expectations of various actors from two different stakeholder groups at once. Emily shared advice relevant for academics and students on how to better understand and work with professional staff, and vice versa.
 
Afternoon workshops
 
Making a strategic case for the Living Lab – Liz Cooper, Research and Policy Manager, University of Edinburgh 
To truly maximise the benefits of LLs, the concept needs to be integrated into policies and practices across the institution. By example of recent developments at Edinburgh, Liz demonstrated how to make a strategic case for a LL at a senior level.
 
Integrating Living Labs into the Academic Agenda – Stephanie Glendinning, Professor of Civil Engineering, Newcastle University
The research agenda of any institution is an output of complicated social, political and economic factors. Stephanie discussed how common ground to advance sustainability among researchers can be sought, and indeed, how LL can serve as a powerful tool to unite the varying agendas.