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Exploring Innovation: In-Depth Interviews and Analysis of Living Labs, Testbeds, and Sandboxes

Updated: Oct 30

As part of our Work Package 2, we are currently finalizing the in-depth interviews and analysis of selected living labs, testbeds, sandboxes, and other experimentation spaces in the four regions of our project and beyond. This research will contribute to our final publication on the Status Quo Report and Best Practices Catalogue.


Here are only some examples of the labs we have interviewed so far:

Sandbox Urbano de València: A City-Wide Innovation Laboratory


The Sandbox Urbano de València is a pioneering initiative in the European Union, transforming the entire city into an innovation laboratory. This urban sandbox aims to provide a real-world setting for testing projects that can offer innovative solutions and positively impact the city’s economic, social, and environmental development. The ordinance regulating the sandbox was recently enacted in September this year. Key differentiators of the Sandbox Urbano de València include the concept of the entire city as a large urban laboratory, strong public-private collaboration, and the city’s role as a facilitator of innovation.  To this end, Valencia with this initiative wants to create a one-stop shop for the innovation ecosystem to simplify and streamline processes, addressing a long-standing demand from businesses and researchers.



MolletLab: Integrating Maker Spaces and City Labs for Urban Solutions


MolletLab emerged in mid-2022 in response to local and territorial political demands. It integrates a Maker Space and a City Lab or Living Lab, focusing on urban experimentation and addressing municipal challenges. Located in the city center, MolletLab works with diverse groups, from people with disabilities to the general public, aiming to democratize access to its resources.


The lab operates with two main approaches: EspaiMaker, centered on technical production and experimentation, and City Lab, addressing social challenges like loneliness. The lab is supported by the Economic development, Open government and Innovation departments, with the Autonomous University of Barcelona (UAB) as a key partner.


Testbed Ebbepark: Real-World Testing in Linköping, Sweden


Testbed Ebbepark is located in the central neighbourhood Ebbepark in Linköping in the southern part of Sweden. The testbed is run by three municipal companies (Sankt Kors, Stångåstaden, and Lejonfastigheter) who own, manage and operate the buildings in the neighbourhood. The testbed is open to research and development projects, making it possible to test solutions, systems and products related to schools, care, businesses and housing in a real-world environment that is the neighbourhood. The neighbourhood is a newly developed area that is still under construction and the testbed has a focus on urban planning and sustainable urban development, from technical, environmental and social perspectives.


Fusilli Living Lab: Transforming Urban Food Systems in Tampere, Finland


The Fusilli Living Lab in Tampere, Finland, is a collaborative project involving the city of Tampere, Tampere University of Applied Sciences, the vocational school AhlmanEdu, and the non-profit company EcoFellows. The lab focuses on transforming urban food systems towards sustainability and is operating at all stages of the food system: governance, production, distribution, consumption, and waste.

The Living Lab uses the city, and the facilities of the partners, as a lab for carrying out several projects related to sustainable urban food systems. Besides these projects, their goal is also to influence local policy and disseminate information for more sustainable urban food systems at a regional and national level.

Stay tuned for our final publication , where we will share comprehensive insights and valuable findings from these innovative spaces and analyse the cross-case opportunities for our Distributed Lab of labs and Learning community!


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