The living lab movement is emerging globally as an approach by its methodologies and tools for economic and social development at the local and regional scale, giving great opportunities for rural, urban and regional development, to all actors in the Quadruple Helix innovation. From Governmental organisations, Higher Education Institutions and civil organisations to large companies and SMEs joining and demonstrating a new role in promoting and facilitating innovation in the case of LIVERUR project and leveraging its sustainable competitiveness.
Living Labs are composed of heterogeneous actors, resources, and activities that enable and support innovation at all phases of the lifecycle, and all are collaborating for creation, prototyping, validating, and testing of new technologies, services, products, and systems in real-life contexts.
In the framework of “LIVERUR: Living Lab research concept in Rural Areas” project, a Report of “Mapping the living lab technique” was developed. The aim of the report is to conceptualize the living lab technique according to the four pillars of LIVERUR :
- Environment and Resilience,
- Resource efficiency – efficacy and management,
- Competitiveness of SMEs & rural value chains,
- Openness to new markets and technologies.
The Living Lab cycle model presents to LIVERUR user community a way of surmounting the challenge: how to implement the circular economy into the piloting territories by using the user-driven participatory model of the Living Lab technique. With respect to Living Lab methodology, the stepwise approach helps to ask the right questions, follow the user-driven innovation process and as mentioned before, in particular, the question concerning the available alternatives is useful thought exercises/pilots in the targeted territories.
What alternatives are relevant in circular rural innovation? Find out by reading the report!
A few words about LIVERUR project:
LIVERUR is a pioneering H2020 project which addresses living lab concepts, circular economy and new business models creation inside the rural communities in Europe and beyond. The short-term objective of the LIVERUR project is to ameliorate the knowledge of business models growing in rural areas, including an understanding of their potential in the future using multiple tools such as surveys and reports. Furthermore, it aims at bringing rural innovation along with high impact to the wide spectrum to the agricultural activities, entrepreneurship, job creation, digital skills improvement, shared and circular economies along with new business models and prototypes for better decision-making and community engagement.
To read the report on identified weaknesses and challenges click here.
Learn more about the project and its objectives and activities in the official webpage http://www.liverur.eu/.
