Urban Living Labs: A Higher Education Approach to Teaching and Learning about Sustainable Development

Ivetheyamel Morales (), Jordi Segalás and Torsten Masseck
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Ivetheyamel Morales: School of Architecture and Urbanism, University of Guayaquil, Guayaquil 090510, Ecuador
Jordi Segalás: Research Institute for Sustainability Science and Technology, Universitat Politècnica de Catalunya UPC, 08034 Barcelona, Spain
Torsten Masseck: Department of Architectural Technology, Universitat Politècnica de Catalunya UPC, 08034 Barcelona, Spain

Sustainability, 2023, vol. 15, issue 20, 1-20

Abstract: This study focuses on the use of urban living labs (ULLs) as a teaching and learning strategy toward education for sustainable development (ESD) in higher education institutions (HEIs). The article presents an exhaustive literature review on the ESD approach in HEIs, the conceptualization and understanding of ULLs, and the use of ULLs as learning environments. Several ULL case studies in HEIs that seek to foster ESD through innovation and experimentation in real-world settings are presented. Each case describes the type, approach, characteristics, results, limitations, and challenges in relation to sustainability. It highlights the need for HEIs to adapt to the ESD approach and become role models for sustainability. It is concluded that ULLs are closely related to ESD and the SDGs, provide a practical and applied learning environment for students, encourage the active participation of students in identifying and solving sustainability problems in their local community, and encourage interdisciplinary collaboration between students and academics from different disciplines. All in all, ULLs can be an effective teaching and learning strategy in HEIs toward ESD. In addition, the lack of specific empirical results on the evaluation of ULL as teaching and learning tools toward ESD in HEIs is highlighted, which justifies the need for further research in this field.

Keywords: sustainable development (SD); education for sustainable development (ESD); urban living labs (ULLs); institutes of higher education (HEIs); teaching and learning strategies; learning environments; scenarios for teaching and learning; sustainability competencies; institutional capacities; learning in the real world (search for similar items in EconPapers)
JEL-codes: O13 Q Q0 Q2 Q3 Q5 Q56 (search for similar items in EconPapers)
Date: 2023
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