Co-designing recycling solutions on campus: A case study exploring openness, realism and empowerment of users in a Living Lab

Abstract

The Living Lab concept is often distinguished from other user-centered and co-innovation approaches by an aspiration to adhere to principles of openness and empowerment of users, with a focus on innovating ideas that are realistic to the real needs of end-users. However, when it comes to implementing a living lab approach it is sometimes unclear how to put these principles into practice. In this case study, we introduce a framework for mapping three living lab principles to co-design stages within a single co-design framework and describe its use in innovating solutions for solid waste management on a university campus as a pre-cursor to scaling up the approach across the city. We present an evaluation of the framework in use against evidence of adherence to the three living lab principles of openness, empowerment of users, and realism. This work may act as a reference point for researchers to start exploring which concrete co-design activities have better impact in achieving living lab aims.