DATE & TIME
2 October 2025, 11:00 – 12:30
TRACKS
TRACK 1: Living Labs for Grand Societal Challenges
TRACK 2: Living Labs for Policies, Governance, collaboration and innovation ecosystems
ROOM
AQUA
Description
In this workshop we deepen our understanding of Living Lab effects and their contribution in shaping evidence-informed public policy. We’ll discuss in a world-cafe setting how Living Labs contribute to policy formulation, policy implementation and evaluation processes. We do this from a scientific and practitioners’ point of view, and thereby certainly address related challenges in knowledge circulation and the science-policy interface.
Agenda
Timeslot | Item |
|---|---|
| 11:00 – 11:05 | Introduction – agenda setting, Heleen Vreugdenhil |
| 11:05 – 11:35 | Presentations
|
| 11:35 – 12:20 | World Café – Audience is divided into 4 groups, each group discussing a different topic; after 10 minutes people move to another topic. Topics include:
|
| 12:20 – 12:30 | Wrapping up |
Facilitators
Heleen Vreugdenhil
Expert Innovation Processes, DELTARES
Heleen Vreugdenhil
Expert Innovation Processes, DELTARESDr. Heleen Vreugdenhil is an expert in innovation processes in water and environmental management. She earned her PhD from Delft University of Technology based on pilot projects in water management and specialises in designing, managing, and implementing innovations in complex multi-stakeholder settings such as river and coastal areas. Her work focuses on co-creation, knowledge management, and scaling innovations from pilot projects to full implementation and institutionalisation, with a strong emphasis on bridging science and policy to maximise impact. Her experience spans coastal restoration, river management, sustainable ports, offshore wind farms, nature-based solutions (NbS), business models for water landscapes, and operational river management pilots. She has led and supported projects on financing and institutionalising NbS, sustainability assessments, knowledge management, plastic removal, erosion prevention, and automated monitoring. Heleen holds a dual appointment at Deltares and TU Delft, connecting academic research with practical implementation. She teaches the Master’s course Building with Nature and Beyond and supervises PhD and MSc students. She is also active in the Netherlands Centre of River Studies (NCR), the European Network of Living Labs (ENoLL), and serves on the editorial team of the International Journal of Water Governance. Her ambition is to strengthen collaboration between academia and practice to increase the impact of innovation in water management.
Astha Bhatta
PhD researcher at Delft University of Technology
Astha Bhatta
PhD researcher at Delft University of TechnologyAstha Bhatta is a PhD researcher at Delft University of Technology. Her current research on living labs aims to understand the contribution of living labs in developing climate-resilient land and water systems. Her work is focused on understanding the role of learning within the living lab environment and the effect they can have in the policy landscape. With background in Civil Engineering and Urban Environmental Management, she has interest in the field of innovation, co-creation, learning, climate-adaptation, sustainable transition, and Policy studies.
Juan Pablo Centeno
PhD researcher at the KU Leuven Public Governance Institute (PGI)
Juan Pablo Centeno
PhD researcher at the KU Leuven Public Governance Institute (PGI)Juan Pablo Centeno is a researcher interested in the governance of knowledge and innovation in the context of societal challenges. He is currently a PhD researcher at the KU Leuven Public Governance Institute (PGI), focusing on knowledge circulation practices in agri-food and healthcare Living Labs that engage in the co-creation of social innovations. His previous research and consulting experience covers a range of topics in the fields of Innovation Policy, Policy Studies, Public Administration and Science & Technology Studies, working in the United Kingdom, Latin America and the Caribbean.