DATE & TIME
2 October 2025, 14:00 – 15:15
TRACKS
TRACK 5: Living Labs Operation, Methods, Tools, and Impact
ROOM
La Consortia 4
TARGET AUDIENCE
Living Lab representatives and practitioners; Research and academics; University Living Lab leads, practitioners and researchers
TYPE OF SESSION
Roundtable
Description
From real-world experimentation enablers to regional ecosystem orchestrators this session will explore the manifestation of Living Labs in university settings. Speakers from established and emerging University Living Labs will share organising ideas from research and practice that can inform the initiation and development of University Living Labs, and their alignment with the ENoLL framework globally. Considering the growth in University Living Labs the session responds to the call in Living Lab origins, developments, and future perspectives (ENoLL, Schuurman et al., 2025), for further research, support, and exchange of best practices for University Living Lab and Campus-as-a-Living-Lab models to further their evolution, effectiveness and impact. The session will address the lack of a dedicated space or practice network for University Living Labs who wish to operate within the ENoLL framework, and spark the potential for an international working group to guide the next phase in the evolution of University Living Labs.
Agenda
Timeslot | Item | Speakers |
|---|---|---|
| 14:00 – 14:15 | Introduction: Challenges and Opportunities of University Living Lab Initiation and Session Goals and Framing |
|
| 14:15 – 14:40 | Ideas and Insights: Organising Ideas from Research and Practice that can Inform the Operation of University Living Labs, and Insights on University Living Lab Initiation and Development |
|
| Roundtable |
| |
| 14:55 – 15:05 | Reflections on Next Steps |
|
| 15:05 – 15:15 | Call to Action |
|
| 15:15 | Closing |
|
Speakers
Helena Fitzgerald
Head of Societal Engagement, Technological University Dublin
Helena Fitzgerald
Head of Societal Engagement, Technological University DublinHelena is Head of Societal Engagement at TU Dublin. Her team work across university functions and implement innovative programmes to engage society in the University’s research, education and operations activity. Her role has a particular focus on creating positive societal impact in the Greater Dublin Region. An architect by profession, she is passionate about enabling individual and collective creativity, and in engaging cross-sectoral stakeholders in the full lifecycle of innovation. She has extensive experience in the orchestration of community-led open innovation processes, and she leads the initiation of the TU Dublin Living Lab.
Sam Rye
Senior Research Officer, Monash University
Sam Rye
Senior Research Officer, Monash UniversitySam leads Monash University's Living Lab Infrastructure. Working with Living Labs across the university, he works with academics to integrate education, research, campus operations, industry and community engagement. With a background in strategic and systemic design, participatory processes, knowledge translation and with 15+ years supporting cross-sectoral collective action through the likes of social innovation labs, Sam aims to further grow Monash University's capability and supporting structures to tackle the Grand Challenges of our age.
Beata Jałocha
Associate Professor, Campus Living Lab Manager, Jagiellonian University
Beata Jałocha
Associate Professor, Campus Living Lab Manager, Jagiellonian UniversityBeata is an Associate Professor of Management at the Institute of Public Affairs, Jagiellonian University in Kraków, Poland. Her research focuses on project management, the processes of projectification, action research, and living labs. She has a particular interest in the effects of projectification on organisations and the individuals within them. She investigates participatory research methods and the role of experiential knowledge in addressing organisational and societal challenges. As a co-creator she currently serves as the manager of the Campus Living Lab at Jagiellonian University.
Konstantinos Kourkoutas
Coordinator CORE Sustainable and Smart Cities, Universitat Autònoma de Barcelona
Konstantinos Kourkoutas
Coordinator CORE Sustainable and Smart Cities, Universitat Autònoma de BarcelonaKonstantinos works as the coordinator of the Strategic Research community on Smart and Sustainable Cities in the Unit of Strategic Development of the Research Office, Universitat Autonoma de Barcelona, Spain. This is a transdisciplinary collaborative community focused on addressing key societal challenges in the Barcelona territory, and creating valuable shared knowledge that can contribute to larger shared agendas. An engineer and urbanist by profession, he has a vested interest in cities and urban processes and has collaborated in the creation of various living labs and other experimentation spaces. He currently leads the Smart Campus Living Lab in the University’s Bellatera campus.
Claudia Stuckrath
PhD Researcher & Advisor, Utrecht University | Chair, Campus & Higher Education Thematic Group, ENoLL
Claudia Stuckrath
PhD Researcher & Advisor, Utrecht University | Chair, Campus & Higher Education Thematic Group, ENoLLClaudia is a PhD researcher at Utrecht University’s Copernicus Institute of Sustainable Development, studying campus living labs for sustainability transitions with a focus on the circular economy. She also advises at the Centre for Living Labs UU (CLU) and chairs ENoLL’s thematic group on campuses and higher education. With a background in engineering, sustainability, and innovation, she bridges academia and practice. Claudia holds degrees in Civil Engineering and an MSc in Biomaterials from Pontificia Universidad Católica de Chile and an MSc in Sustainable Business and Innovation from Utrecht University. Her work explores how universities can serve as experimental spaces, driving sustainability transitions.
Dimitri Schuurman
University Business Development Manager, imec-MICT-Ghent University & Senior Research Strategist, ENoLL
Dimitri Schuurman
University Business Development Manager, imec-MICT-Ghent University & Senior Research Strategist, ENoLLDimitri is a university business developer at research group imec-MICT-Ghent University where he is responsible for research on inclusive design, impact via Living Labs, and design for futures, all in the context of new and emerging technologies. He is a visiting professor of strategic design and innovation management at Ghent University and works in part for the European Network of Living Labs as their senior research strategist. His PhD on innovation management in Living Labs developed a three-layered model that is now widely used in Living Lab research and practice. Finally, Dimitri is active as an independent consultant in the domains of open innovation, user innovation and strategic innovation management.