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Short abstract:

Living Labs (LL) have emerged as relevant inter- or transdisciplinary settings for the co-production of socio-technical innovations. This contribution explores the current and the potential role of technical universities in ecologies of participation emerging from research in and across LL settings.

Long abstract:

Living Labs (LLs) have emerged as relevant platforms for the co-design, co-production and co-evaluation of socio-technical innovations. In these settings, participation and experimentation form the basis for inter- and transdisciplinary collaboration. RWTH Aachen University pursues an ambitious plan to strengthen participation in and through LLs as part of its Excellence Strategy. To this end, the Living Labs Incubator has been tasked with connecting, studying and supporting existing and emerging LLs and has built a database and network of over 40 LLs.

Recent conceptual advancements in STS regarding ecologies of participation invite an analysis of participatory approaches from a systemic perspective. Therefore, the proposed contribution addresses the question, how STS perspectives can aid in mapping, analysing and strengthening participatory approaches to science and technology development across a network of disparate LLs around a university. The discussion centres on the variety of participatory methods in LLs emerging from particular inter- and transdisciplinary collaborations at different scale levels.

Based on 32 semi-structured interviews with LL researchers, the analysis explores participatory methods across different types of LLs. Next to mere public outreach activities and tendencies to instrumentalise participation, many LLs feature broad public deliberation or technology appraisal. Especially local projects concerned with urban planning (theory) emerge as examples of LLs open to participation and able to engage with proliferating society-led initiatives. At the regional level, instruments and initiatives for bottom-up participation and deliberation appear scarcer. The analysis seeks to broaden the ecologies of participation perspective to a reflection on the (potential) role of universities.