Living Labs, Landscape Labs and Experiments

 

​​​​​Experiments and living labs for sustainable agricultural landscapes

With its long-term experiments and research infrastructures, established actor networks and long-standing expertise in transdisciplinary and transformative research as well as in co-design (see also topic 4: Agriculture in transition), ZALF combines the central building blocks for "living labs" in the agricultural landscape - especially in the state of Brandenburg.

Living labs (LL) are spaces for joint research between science and practice to solve real-world and socially relevant sustainability problems, such as - in the field of land use - the reduction of environmental and climate impacts. By mutual learning, LL can lead to both social and technical innovations and a better scientific understanding of challenges and solutions. As such, they are directly relevant to helping shape sustainable agriculture in the agricultural landscapes of the future, together with those stakeholders central to this transformation.

To date there is no single and overall accepted definition for LL. Worldwide examples range from the cooperation of researchers and practitioners based on test environments or experiments for concrete problems to set-ups for developing solutions for grand challenges in which also actors from politics, administration and civil society are involved. On the research side, in addition to landscape experiments and systemic research, transdisciplinary approaches in particular are central to integrating the different bodies of knowledge, developing them further and, at best, bringing them to implementation as innovations. Trustful cooperation with different actors as well as the observation of the impact of measures can often only be realized over a longer time horizon, especially in the landscape context. Therefore, continuity and longevity are important factors for successful LL.

In the following, you will find information on projects with Living Lab character and relevant infrastructures of ZALF. The AgroscapeLab Quillow (ASLQ) and the landscape lab patchCrop are listed in the current collection of Europe-wide Living Labs with concrete reference to soil health, which are surveyed in the context of the preparation of the Horizon Europe Mission for Soil Health and Food.

Landscape labs and infrastructures supporting participatory projects with stakeholders

1. patchCrop​ landscape lab in Tempelberg
2. AgroscapeLab Quillow (ASLQ)
3. Experimental Station Dedelow
4. Experimental Station Paulinenaue
5. Experimental Station Müncheberg​​​​​​​​​​​​