Are urban living labs the new normal in co-creating places?

Abstract

JPI Urban Europe exists to tackle the grand societal challenge of sustainable urbanisation. It involves the collaboration of more than 20 European countries, with their ministries and funding agencies, drawing on national programming to coordinate and shape joint transnational activities. So far, more than 80 projects have been funded by seven joint calls whereof four have been in cooperation with Horizon 2020, with one more in the pipeline, and a few strictly in collaboration between member states. Currently developing collaborations with the Belmont Forum1 and with China (NSFC), we continue to answer to the spirit of urgency expressed in international policies such as the UN Agenda 2030. As Wolfram et al (2019: 437) points to, many, if not most, of the challenges in the UN Agenda 2030 have to be tackled in urban settings in one way or another. We do this by adopting particularly Sustainable Development Goal (SDG) 11 as a gateway to other SDGs, and by shaping common frameworks, building critical mass in urban research and innovation, and mobilising a broad range of actors. The aim is to support local urban action for experimenting with and testing ways to tackle challenges, e.g. in resource use, mobility, housing, urban liveability, energy, etc. – activities whose ongoing effects result in feedback loops that include international sharing and dialogue on transition pathways. Ultimately, it compiles evidence on how to proceed with urban transformations that align with global goals and targets. To support local action and urban policy, JPI Urban Europe has adopted a challenge -driven approach to research and innovation in order to avoid the risks of ill-suited solutions developed by research and innovation actors and to take into account challenges as they are articulated by the problem owners. Since 2019, this approach has somewhat merged with a dilemma-driven approach where the ‘wickedness’ and