Living Labs—A Concept for Co-Designing Nature-Based Solutions

Gerd Lupp, Aude Zingraff-Hamed, Josh J. Huang, Amy Oen and Stephan Pauleit
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Gerd Lupp: Chair for Strategic Landscape Planning and Management, Technical University of Munich, 85354 Freising, Germany
Aude Zingraff-Hamed: Chair for Strategic Landscape Planning and Management, Technical University of Munich, 85354 Freising, Germany
Josh J. Huang: Chair for Strategic Landscape Planning and Management, Technical University of Munich, 85354 Freising, Germany
Amy Oen: Norwegian Geotechnical Institute, 0855 Oslo, Norway
Stephan Pauleit: Chair for Strategic Landscape Planning and Management, Technical University of Munich, 85354 Freising, Germany

Sustainability, 2020, vol. 13, issue 1, 1-22

Abstract: Living Labs are recognized as a progressive form to foster innovation and the strengthening of collaborative planning. The concept has received strong attention by the European Union (EU) research and innovation agendas recently. This contribution investigates how a Living Lab approach could be used for the design and implementation of Nature-Based Solutions (NBS). NBS are gaining acceptance as a more sustainable solution for reducing the exposure to natural hazards and vulnerability to events, such as increased flooding in changing climate. However, a lack of collaborative approaches hinders their broader implementation. A literature review on the theoretical aspects of the Living Labs concept in the context of NBS is conducted, and we compare the theoretical findings with practices that were observed by case studies implementing NBS in a collaborative manner. The Isar-Plan River Restoration in Munich, Germany, and the Mountain Forest Initiative (Bergwaldoffensive). Both of the case studies have already started well before the concept of Living Labs gained wider popularity. Both award-winning cases are recognized good practice for their exemplary in-depth stakeholder involvement. The paper discusses the concepts and approaches of Living Labs and reflects on how it can serve and support in-depth participatory stakeholder involvement.

Keywords: Nature-Based Solutions; Living Labs; hydro-meteorological risks; natural hazard mitigation; Blue Solutions; Green Solutions; cooperative planning; collaborative planning; innovation design (search for similar items in EconPapers)
JEL-codes: O13 Q Q0 Q2 Q3 Q5 Q56 (search for similar items in EconPapers)
Date: 2020
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