Integrated Impact Assessment of Living Labs. Conceptual Framework, Approach and Methods applied in the LANTERN project

Abstract

Switzerland aims for net-zero greenhouse gas emissions by 2050. Against this background, the LANTERN project uses urban Living Labs to co-design, test, validate, and scale up a portfolio of interventions that can contribute to a more user-empowered, decarbonized, resource efficient and sufficient energy consumption in Switzerland. An important component of this project is the development, test, and application of an integrated impact assessment. However, an important limitation of the Living Labs approach that has been identified in the literature is that it has failed so far to convincingly demonstrate its impact. To contribute to the discussion about how to overcome this gap, we are currently developing a conceptual framework with support of our project’s different work packages and Living Labs using a co-design approach. This Research-In-Progress paper will present the current state of the ongoing work related to the integrated impact assessment in the LANTERN project, thus providing the opportunity to receive feedback on our work in progress and to discuss our experience on the topic of impact evaluation of Living Labs with the other conference participants.