RESEARCH AND INNOVATION - Handbook on capacity-building using living labs

Living labs are real-world environments where research and experimentation take place in an open and collaborative manner. They help to ensure that the solutions developed are practical, user-friendly, and address real-world needs.

oPEN Labs has shared a Capacity-Building Handbook as a practical guide to setting up living labs in the context of PENs, which may be of interest to other research projects.

date: 07/12/2023

Through the oPEN Lab project, three Living Labs at Genk (Belgium), Tartu (Estonia) and Pamplona (Spain) have been working extensively to establish PENs. This handbook summarises the methodology and key outcomes of applying Living Lab concepts, methods, and tools in the three oPEN Labs from September 2021 to March 2023. The handbook may be of interest for:

Other projects working on the development of PENs or energy retrofit projects in
general
Other organisations interested in setting up a living lab or intending to use
participative methods and tools to develop PENs. The handbook could be adapted to
different fields and used as a practical guide on the living lab methodology and usecases.

The handbook explains what a living lab is, how to set up a living lab, co-creation and codesign, stakeholder ecosystem management, governance and business models of living labs. It gives extensive examples from oPEN Lab and living labs across Europe, as well as templates for tools and methods used throughout the set-up phase.

Download the Capacity Building Handbook