Water Oriented Living Labs
BACKGROUND/HISTORY AND CONTEXT OF THE WORKSHOP
Thanks to the development of action research network and Europe-wide federative organisations of living labs, today, European living labs play a leveraging role for the uptake of Responsible and Participatory Research and Innovation actions, whilst promoting synergistic implementation of Horizon 2020, Smart Specialisation, and Cohesion Policy. In the context of its overall Vision 2030 and SIRA (Strategic Innovation and Research Agenda) targets for the water- smart society, the European Water Platform Water Europe has defined living lab as one of the key innovation measures to develop longer-term investment plans for experimental RDI programmes addressing water innovation barriers.
Water Oriented Living Labs are real-life, water oriented and demo-type and platform-type environments with a cross-sector nexus approach, which have the involvement and commitment of multi-stakeholders (including water authorities) and a certain continuity (good chance to continue to their existence), and provide a “field lab” to develop, test, and validate a combination of solutions as defined in the Water Europe SIRA, which include technologies, their integration as well as combination with new business models and innovative policies based on the value of water.
MAIN AIM / OBJECTIVE
To explore synergies, collaborative and financial tools to support LLs to address water related challenges through the development of innovative solutions both from the policy&governance and technology perspective with a systemic approach.
EXPECTED OUTCOMES
Full understanding of the water challenges in diverse categories of LLs Development of a draft roadmap for the development of innovative solutions both from the policy&governance and technology perspective with a systemic approach.
BRIEF OUTLINE / METHODOLOGY
A blend of:
- Frontal workshop to introduce the core issue of the workshop, the state of the art of This will include a summary of the findings from the Water Europe Atlas of EU WoLLs.
- Interactive workshop to design possible proposals, support networking and systemic innovation solutions relating to the workshop
The workshop is based on three facilitation groups of about 10-20 people each for the three main domains of the WoLLs (Industry, Urban, Rural) that are more suitable for analysis and knowledge creation.
Schedule: 90-minute time-slot
Session 1. 0-15 min: Plenary, introduction of Water Oriented Living Labs (WoLLs) and presentation of the Water Europe Atlas of WoLLs (facilitator Andrea Rubini)
Session 2. 15-45 min: Emerging Water challenges in the Urban, Rural and Industrial LLs followed by discussion, three parallel sessions:
· Industry LLs, facilitator Geoff Townsend
· Urban LLs, facilitator Alexis De Kerchove
· Rural LLs facilitator Jochen Froebric
Session 3. 45-75 min: How to develop governance and business models in WoLLs to address water innovation barriers, three parallel sessions:
· Industry LLs, facilitator Geoff Townsend
· Urban LLs, facilitator Alexis De Kerchove
· Rural LLs facilitator Jochen Froebric
Session 4. 75-90 min Plenary: final discussion and wrap up of the workshop (facilitator Dirk Van der Stede)
Materials available to the participants:
- Water Europe Atlas of Water Oriented Living Labs (WoLLs)
- Water Europe Vision “The Value of Water”
ORGANISATION
Water Europe Technology and Innovation (The European Platform for Water)
Water Europe is the recognized voice and promotor of water-related RTD and innovation in Europe. We strive to increase coordination and collaboration, to enhance the performance of the water service providers, water users, and technology providers, in a sustainable and inclusive way, and to contribute to solving water-related societal challenges. Water Europe saw the light as WssTP, initiated by the European Commission (EC) in 2004, as the European Technology Platform (ETP) for water. This ETP status was renewed by the EC in 2013 in line with its ETP2020 strategy. In 2007, Water Europe was transformed into a member-based multi-stakeholder platform under Belgian law. Since then, the membership and activities of the organisation have continuously grown and evolved in line with its ambition to represent the whole value-chain of water and achieve a European Water-Smart Society.