Learning pathways for living labs

Abstract

The pressure on land and water systems is one of the major sustainability challenges of modern society. In response, living labs have emerged as a collaborative governance approach that generate innovative solutions for these intricate problems (Bhatta et al., 2024b). Innovation in living labs are facilitated by continuous exchange of knowledge and experiences from diverse disciplines and sectors amongst diverse actors (academia, civil society, government, and private organization) (Bhatta, Vreugdenhil, et al., 2023). Thus, this research seeks to identify learning that occurs during such living lab projects by utilizing ‘learning pathways’. Learning pathways allow navigating and sequencing learning experiences and guide individuals and organizations through acquiring and refining their knowledge and competencies, leading to specific outcomes (Harris et al., 2006; Mphinyane, 2013; Ramsarup, 2017). An ex-post analysis of an empirical case study on a climate adaptation project, named KLIMAP, was conducted, that led to seven learning pathways. These pathways focus on 1) harnessing collective, integrated knowledge, 2) building collaborative networks, 3) enhancing stakeholder capacity, 4) knowledge adaptation and contextualization, 5) knowledge diffusion, 6) co-creation facilitation, and 7) reflection and learning (Bhatta et al., 2024a). Finally, insights regarding activities to strengthen learning pathways and the impacts of future co-creative projects are distilled.