DATE & TIME
1 October 2025, 15:45 – 17:00
TRACKS
TRACK 3: LLS for Inclusive Soci(et)al Engagement
ROOM
La Consortia 4
TARGET AUDIENCE
Living Lab representatives and practitioners; Research and academics; Companies and entrepreneurs
TYPE OF SESSION
Topic debate
Description
This session explores the central question: How can Living Lab methodologies empower learners and educators to drive systemic innovation in education? The session aims to inspire, connect, and mobilize actors across educational systems by presenting diverse innovation stories from schools, higher education institutions, and vocational training centers that have embedded Living Lab principles in their practice.
Agenda
Timeslot |
Item |
Speakers |
|---|---|---|
| 15:45 – 15:55 | Introduction to Session Goals and Living Lab Framing |
|
| 15:55 – 16:25 | Innovation Stories from Diverse Education Levels |
|
| 16:25 – 16:45 | Audience engagement: Co-creation mapping of Living Lab practices |
|
| 16:45 – 16:55 | Open Mic: Key Reflections from Participants and Contributors |
|
| 16:55 – 17:00 | Conclusions and Next Steps |
|
Speakers
Alexandra Petcu
Innovation manager, West University of Timișoara
Alexandra Petcu
Innovation manager, West University of TimișoaraAlexandra Petcu is Coordinator of the Digital & Green Living Lab and Head of the Innovation & Technology Transfer Office at West University of Timișoara (WUT), where she also teaches Entrepreneurship and Innovation for sustainable development. She co-leads WUT’s sustainability strategy within the UNITA European University Alliance and has over 15 years’ experience in education and environmental policy, and sustainable entrepreneurship. She fostered a student-driven entrepreneurial ecosystem, launching 73 businesses aligned with sustainability goals. Holding a PhD in Human Capital Accounting, her research explores Living Lab methodologies in education to advance the EU twin transition in schools and universities.
Heleen Geerts
Coordinator Learning Community Haagse (Living) Labs THUAS, South Holland Impact Alliance (ZHIA)
Heleen Geerts
Coordinator Learning Community Haagse (Living) Labs THUAS, South Holland Impact Alliance (ZHIA)Heleen Geerts is Liaison Manager Entrepreneurship, Researcher Designing Value Networks, and Coordinator of the Learning Community Haagse (Living) Labs at The Hague University of Applied Sciences (THUAS), Netherlands. She coordinates Living Labs & Triple Helix collaborations (Public-Private Partnerships) with a focus on educational innovation. As an External Relations Coordinator and lecturer, she has extensive experience in higher education and the Triple/Quadruple Helix context. Skilled in stakeholder management, international trade, marketing, 21st-century skills, and business strategy, Heleen holds a Master’s degree in Strategic Management and is author of ‘How to innovate with Living Labs’.
Artur Serra
Deputy Director, i2Cat
Artur Serra
Deputy Director, i2CatArtur Serra Hurtado is Deputy director of i2cat research center and Former Vicepresident of ENoLL. He is conducting now the research project Catalunya Collaboratory, based in the vision of universal innovation ecosystems. He was co-leading with Antonia Caro, the new Horizon Europe project INTEGER (2022-2024), integrating social innovation into the European Innovation Ecosystems in three European regions: Catalonia, Krakow and Hamburg. Currently he is the head of the ENoLL Action Oriented Task Force on Social Innovation, promoting the collaboration between the ENoLL and the European School of Social Innovation (ESSI) supporting a more human-centric innovation ecosystems. Finally, he is leading a cooperative project with FDSUT, Fondation pour le Developement du Service Universel de Telecomunications de Senegal promoting the first national network of Living labs in this African country.
Hae-Yung Song
Institute for Poverty Alleviation and International Development (IPAID), Yonsei University, South Korea
Hae-Yung Song
Institute for Poverty Alleviation and International Development (IPAID), Yonsei University, South KoreaHae-Yung Song studied sociology, international political economy and development studies in South Korea and the UK. She has worked for the Korean government and public institutions in the areas of international cooperation, diplomacy and human rights. She has taught at Birkbeck, Warwick and SOAS in the UK and at Korea University in South Korea. She has published articles in internationally acclaimed journals and a monograph, The State, Class and Developmentalism in South Korea (Routledge). She is currently a research professor at IPAID, and works on the contact points between critical pedagogy and active learning including living labs.
Senem Turhan
Senior Lecturer School of Innovation, Design and Engineering (IDT), Mälardalen University
Senem Turhan
Senior Lecturer School of Innovation, Design and Engineering (IDT), Mälardalen UniversitySenem Turhan is a design researcher and educator specializing in design thinking, sustainable product development, and user-centered research methods. She aims to bridge the gap between research insights and idea generation phases in the innovation process. Her work emphasizes sustainability, speculative reasoning, co-design, and user experience, integrating innovative tools and methods into education, research and practice.