DATE & TIME
1 October 2025, 15:45 – 17:00
TRACKS
TRACK 1: Living Labs for Grand Societal Challenges
ROOM
Sala d’Actes
TARGET AUDIENCE
Policymakers and city representatives, companies and entrepreneurs, research and academics, Living Lab representatives and practitioners
TYPE OF SESSION
Topic debate
Description
This session explores how Living Labs can support interdisciplinary research on the environmental determinants of human health, aligning with One Health principles and regenerative futures. As recognised Research Infrastructures in Health & Wellbeing, LLs offer real-life settings, co-creation methodologies, and stakeholder engagement frameworks that can be extended to environmental and social sciences. Participants will discover how LLs facilitate cross-sector collaboration, enable experimentation in areas like urban mobility, energy, soil and climate resilience, and generate policy-relevant evidence. Case studies will showcase how LLs bridge research, innovation, and policy by supporting integrated risk assessments and actionable insights for local and European decision-making. The session emphasises the potential of LLs as open platforms for SMEs, academic teams, and public authorities to tackle complex health-environment challenges and drive systems-based transitions towards more sustainable and resilient societies.
Agenda
Timeslot | Item | Speaker |
|---|---|---|
| 15:45 – 15:50 | Introduction: The role of Living Labs as interdisciplinary infrastructures connecting health and environment |
|
| 15:50 – 16:40 | Presentations |
|
| 16:40 – 17:00 | Panel Discussion: Opportunities and challenges for Living Labs in fostering innovation, co-creation and policy support |
|
| 17:00 – 17:05 | Conclusions & future perspectives |
|
Speakers
Despoina Petsani
Research Associate, Lab of Medical Physics and Digital Innovation, AUTH
Despoina Petsani
Research Associate, Lab of Medical Physics and Digital Innovation, AUTHHaving a background in computer engineering, Despoina Petsani pursued her passion to support people health and social wellbeing, by becoming a Living Lab researcher, with experience in assistive technologies and decision support systems for the continuum of care. With years of experience in the IT and healthcare sector and passionate about improving health and social well-being, she specializes in assistive technologies and decision support systems. She has extensive experience managing EU-funded projects and collaborating with international research teams. She holds an MSc in Medical Informatics and diploma in Electrical and Computer Engineering from Aristotle University of Thessaloniki, Greece. She is currently PhD Candidate and Research Associate in the Assistive Technologies and Silver Science Research Group in the Lab of Medical Physics and Digital Innovation, School of Medicine of Aristotle University of Thessaloniki. She was also the Harmonization Body Coordinator of the VITALISE H2020 project and currently, she is co-chairing the ENoLL Living Lab Harmonization Working Group and the ENoLL Health & Wellbeing Working Group. She was also member of the Organizing Committee of the Health and Wellbeing Living Lab Symposium 2024 and 2025.
Anton Sentic
Living Lab and Transitions Researcher, Zurich University of Applied Sciences (ZHAW)
Anton Sentic
Living Lab and Transitions Researcher, Zurich University of Applied Sciences (ZHAW)Anton Sentic is a Living Lab and Transitions researcher working at the Zurich University of Applied Sciences. Currently leading/co-leading LL methodology work packages in the SWEET SWICE and SWEET Lantern energy research consortia, he is also acting as scientific co-lead of the WinLab LL in Winterthur and advisor to several Swiss Living Labs. In parallel with his current work with Living Labs, Anton is also an active member of the Sustainable Transitions Research community, having co-founded the NEST early career Transitons Researcher Network and serving as a member of the STRN Steering Group since 2019. Holding a bachelor’s and master’s degree in Environmental System Sciences with a focus on sustainable business management, as well as a PhD in Innovation Studies from the University of Greenwich, Anton’s main research interests lie in the intersection between Living Lab research and (sustainable) system transition processes, focusing on the role of LL in large-scale transitions and, on the practical side, the development and utilization of management tools and concepts in order to improve the effectiveness and efficiency of innovation processes in LL.
Evdokimos Konstantinidis
Postdoc Researcher at Thess-AHALL
Evdokimos Konstantinidis
Postdoc Researcher at Thess-AHALLDr. Evdokimos I. Konstantinidis is the Chairperson of the European Network of Living Labs (ENoLL) with more than 170 members worldwide, coordinator of the Health and Wellbeing Living Labs Working Group and postdoc researcher at the Medical Physics and Digital Innovation Lab, Aristotle University of Thessaloniki. He coordinated the Research Infrastructure H2020 project, VITALISE – aiming to harmonize the procedures of Health Living Labs. He is currently the coordinator of the RAISE Horizon Europe funded project on services for the European Open Science Cloud and the Horizon Europe project Engaging the Value of Living Labs to Innovate Care and Regulatory Environments as a response to the call for experimentation frameworks.
Josep Maria Salanova Grau
Principal Researcher, CERTH/HIT
Josep Maria Salanova Grau
Principal Researcher, CERTH/HITDr. Josep Maria Salanova Grau is a Principal Researcher at the Hellenic Institute of Transport/Center for Research and Technology Hellas where he leads the operations research and data analysis laboratory supporting the Thessaloniki Smart Mobility Living Lab. He is a former member of the Board of Directors at the European Network of Living Labs (ENoLL), where he currently leads the mobility working group. His expertise includes transport modelling, ITS and cooperative ITS, Operations Research for optimizing passenger and freight transport and Data Science. He accounts for more than 60 journal publications, 18 book chapters, more than 200 conference papers and more than 2000 citations in google scholar.
Giulia Campodonico
Head of Projects, ENoLL & Coordinator of the SOILL-Startup Project
Giulia Campodonico
Head of Projects, ENoLL & Coordinator of the SOILL-Startup ProjectSince joining ENoLL in 2022, Giulia has coordinated the preparation of more than 60 proposals to European funding opportunities, with more than 30% of success rate as partner and 100% success rate as Coordinator. Alongside, Giulia is supporting the implementation of the 20 active projects of the organization and coordinating the SOILL and SOILL-Startup projects supporting the Mission Soil Health Living Labs. Before ENoLL, she has led for 9 years the EU proposals team of the Italian Institute of Technology where she coordinated the preparation of 80+ collaborative projects proposals per year in various applied research themes as Robotics & AI, Computation, Smart and nano materials, and Life sciences. She is also an experienced trainer on EU affairs and EU funding, bridging her hands-on experience on proposal and project management with deep knowledge of the EU policy landscape. Before ENoLL, she has led for 9 years the EU proposals team of the Italian Institute of Technology where she coordinated the preparation of 80+ collaborative projects proposals per year in various applied research themes as Robotics & AI, Computation, Smart and nano materials, and Life sciences. She is also an experienced trainer on EU affairs and EU funding, bridging her hands-on experience on proposal and project management with deep knowledge of the EU policy landscape.