Have a personal or library account? Click to login
Researchers’ shifting roles in living labs for knowledge co-production Cover

Researchers’ shifting roles in living labs for knowledge co-production

Open Access
|Nov 2025

References

  1. 1Aragone, A., Dobre, C. & Faldi, G. (2022, July). Hydrological communities in action. The case of ‘Bruxelles sensible à l’eau’ action research project. Paper presented at the AESOP Annual Congress 2022, Space for Species: Redefining Spatial Justice, Tartu, Estonia.
  2. 2Aragone, A., Dobre, C. C. & Faldi, G. (2023). Gradients of wetness: Gardens as experiments towards wetness. Roadsides, 10, 915.
  3. 3Armitage, D., Berkes, F., Dale, A., Kocho-Schellenberg, E. & Patton, E. (2011). Co-management and the co-production of knowledge: Learning to adapt in Canada’s Arctic. Global Environmental Change, 21(3), 9951004.
  4. 4Ballon, P. & Schuurman, D. (2015). Living labs: Concepts, tools and cases. Info, 17(4). 10.1108/info-04-2015-0024
  5. 5Berger, R. (2015). Now I see it, now I don’t: researcher’s position and reflexivity in qualitative research. Qualitative Research, 15(2), 219234.
  6. 6Bergvall-Kåreborn, B., Eriksson, C. I., Ståhlbröst, A. & Svensson, J. (2009, December). A milieu for innovation: Defining living labs. Paper presented at the ISPIM Innovation Symposium: Simulating recovery – the Role of innovation management, New York City, USA.
  7. 7Brandsen, T., Steen, T. & Verschuere, B. (2018). How to encourage co-creation and co-production. Some recommendations. In T. Brandsen, T. Steen & B. Verschuere (Eds.), Co-production and co-creation: Engaging citizens in public services (pp. 299303). Routledge.
  8. 8Brusseau. (n.d.). http://brusseau.be/projets/
  9. 9Bruxelles Environnement. (2016). Etat des lieux et analyse de la situation. In Projet de plan de gestion de l’eau de la Region de Bruxelles-Capitale 2016–2017 (pp. 40206). Brussels Capital Region. https://environnement.brussels/sites/default/files/user_files/chapitre2_etatdeslieux.pdf
  10. 10Bulkeley, H., Coenen, L., Frantzeskaki, N., Hartmann, C., Kronsell, A., Mai, L., Marvin, S., McCormick, K., van Steenbergen, F. & Voytenko Palgan, Y. (2016). Urban living labs: Governing urban sustainability transitions. Current Opinion in Environmental Sustainability, 22, 1317. 10.1016/j.cosust.2017.02.003
  11. 11Burns, M. J., Wallis, E. & Matic, V. (2015). Building capacity in low-impact drainage management through research collaboration. Freshwater Science, 34(3), 11761185.
  12. 12Chaffin, B. C., Shuster, W. D., Garmestani, A. S., Furio, B., Albro, S. L., Gardiner, M., Spring, M. & Green, O. O. (2016). A tale of two rain gardens: Barriers and bridges to adaptive management of urban stormwater in Cleveland, Ohio. Journal of Environmental Management, 183, 431441. 10.1016/j.jenvman.2016.06.025
  13. 13Damay, L. & Schaut, C. (2022). Une recherche-action participative entre cocréation et confrontation des savoirs. Cahiers RAMAU. Revue du Réseau activités et métiers de l’architecture et de l’urbanisme, 11, 149161.
  14. 14Davesne, S., De Villers, J. & Squilbin, M. (2017). 12. Maillage Pluie. Bruxelles Environnement. https://document.environnement.brussels/opac_css/elecfile/Eau_12.PDF?langtype=2060
  15. 15De Muynck, S. & Nalpas, D. (2021). The renewal of politics through co-creation: The analysis of the case of rainwater and biowaste in Brussels. IJAR – International Journal of Action Research, 17(1), 56.
  16. 16Dobre, C. C., Faldi, G., Nalpas, D., Pinet, J.-F. & Verbeiren, B. (2023). Naar een water gevoelige stad. Ruimte & planning. http://hdl.handle.net/2013/
  17. 17Dobre, C. C. & Nalpas, D. (2020). Brusseau—Rapport scientifique III.
  18. 18Edwards-Schachter, M. E., Matti, C. E. & Alcantara, E. (2012). Fostering quality of life through social innovation: a living lab methodology study case. Review of Policy Research, 29(6), 672692.
  19. 19Fletcher, T. D., Shuster, W., Hunt, W., Ashley, R., Butler, D., Arthur, S., Trowsdale, S., Barraud, S., Semadeni-Davies, A., Bertrand-Krajewski, J.-L., Mikkelsen, P. S., Rivard, G., Uhl, M., Dagenais, D. & Viklander, M. (2014). SUDS, LID, BMPs, WSUD and more – The evolution and application of terminology surrounding urban drainage. Urban Water Journal, 12(7), 118. 10.1080/1573062X.2014.916314
  20. 20Franz, Y. (2015). Designing social living labs in urban research. Info, 17(4), 5366.
  21. 21Greve, K., Leminen, S., De Vita, R. & Westerlund, M. (2020). Unveiling the diversity of scholarly debate on Living labs: A bibliometric approach. International Journal of Innovation Management, 24(8), 2040003. 10.1142/S1363919620400034
  22. 22Hermesse, J. & Vankeerberghen, A. (2020). La recherche transdisciplinaire au sein des institutions d’enseignement supérieur et de recherche. Natures Sciences Sociétés, 28(3–4), 270277. 10.1051/nss/2021006
  23. 23Herr, K. & Anderson, G. (2015). The action research dissertation. A guide for students and faculty (2nd ed.). SAGE.
  24. 24Hossain, M., Leminen, S. & Westerlund, M. (2019). A systematic review of living lab literature. Journal of Cleaner Production, 213, 976988.
  25. 25Jimenez, A., Abbott, P. & Dasuki, S. (2022). In-betweenness in ICT4D research: Critically examining the role of the researcher. European Journal of Information Systems, 31(1), 2539. 10.1080/0960085X.2021.1978340
  26. 26Kerstetter, K. (2012). Insider, outsider, or somewhere between: The impact of researchers’ identities on the community-based research process. Journal of Rural Social Sciences, 27(2), 7. https://egrove.olemiss.edu/jrss/vol27/iss2/7
  27. 27Kohlbrenner, A. (2010). Le chantier de la place Flagey: Rupture ou continuité? Approche historique des transformations dans la conception de l’espace public bruxellois (1958–2008) (Master’s thesis, Université libre de Bruxelles, Brussels).
  28. 28Kruijf, J. V., Verbrugge, L., Schröter, B., Den Haan, R., Cortes Arevalo, J., Fliervoet, J., Henze, J. & Albert, C. (2022). Knowledge co-production and researcher roles in transdisciplinary environmental management projects. Sustainable Development, 30(2), 393405. 10.1002/sd.2281
  29. 29Leminen, S., Nyström, A.-G., Westerlund, M. & Kortelainen, M. J. (2016). The effect of network structure on radical innovation in living labs. Journal of Business and Industrial Marketing, 31(6), 743757.
  30. 30Leminen, S., Westerlund, M. & Nyström, A.-G. (2012). Living labs as open-innovation networks. Technology Innovation Management Review, 2(9), 611.
  31. 31Louis, M. R. & Bartunek, J. M. (1992). Insider/outsider research teams: Collaboration across diverse perspectives. Journal of Management Inquiry, 1(2), 101110.
  32. 32Nyström, A.-G., Leminen, S., Westerlund, M. & Kortelainen, M. J. (2014). Actor roles and role patterns influencing innovation in living labs. Industrial Marketing Management, 43, 483495.
  33. 33Petit, S. & Soulard, C.-T. (2015). Chapitre 10. Rencontres par-delà les frontières: L’analyse du dispositif pour et sur le développement régional. In Les recherches-actions collaboratives (pp. 93100). Presses de l’EHESP. 10.3917/ehesp.lesch.2015.01.0093
  34. 34Pohl, C., Rist, S., Zimmermann, A., Fry, P., Gurung, G. S., Schneider, F., Speranza, C. I., Kiteme, B., Boillat, S., Serrano, E., Hadorn, G. H. & Wiesmann, U. (2010). Researchers’ roles in knowledge co-production: experience from sustainability research in Kenya, Switzerland, Bolivia and Nepal. Science and Public Policy, 37(4), 267281.
  35. 35Qiao, X.-J., Kristoffersson, A. & Randrup, T. B. (2018). Challenges to implementing urban sustainable stormwater management from a governance perspective: A literature review. Journal of Cleaner Production, 196, 943952.
  36. 36Reason, P. & Bradbury, H. (2008). Introduction. In P. Reason & H. Bradbury (Eds.), The SAGE handbook of action research. Participative inquiry and practice (pp. 113). SAGE.
  37. 37Rickards, L., Wiseman, J., Edwards, T. & Biggs, C. (2014). The problem of fit: Scenario planning and climate change adaptation in the public sector. Environment and Planning C: Government and Policy, 32(4), 641662. 10.1068/c12106
  38. 38Schuttenberg, H. Z. & Guth, H. K. (2015). Seeking our shared wisdom: A framework for understanding knowledge coproduction and coproductive capacities. Ecology and Society, 20(1). 10.5751/ES-07038-200115
  39. 39Soedirgo, J., & Glas, A. (2020). Toward active reflexivity: positionality and practice in the production of knowledge. American Political Science Association, 53(3), 527531.
  40. 40Steen, K. & van Bueren, E. (2017). The defining characteristics of urban living labs. Technology Innovation Management Review, 7(7), 2133.
  41. 41Sultana, F. (2007). Reflexivity, positionality and participatory ethics: Negotiating fieldwork dilemmas in international research. ACME: An International E-Journal for Critical Geographies, 6(3), 374385.
  42. 42von Wirth, T., Fuenfschilling, L., Frantzeskaki, N. & Coenen, L. (2019). Impacts of urban living labs on sustainability transitions: Mechanisms and strategies for systemic change through experimentation. European Planning Studies, 27(2), 229257. 10.1080/09654313.2018.1504895
  43. 43Westerlund, M. & Leminen, S. (2011). Managing the challenges of becoming an open innovation company: Experiences from living labs. Technology Innovation Management Review, 1(1), 1925.
  44. 44Wittmayer, J.-M. & Schäpke, N. (2014). Action, research and participation: roles of researchers in sustainability transitions. Sustainability Science, 9(4), 483496.
DOI: https://doi.org/10.5334/bc.622 | Journal eISSN: 2632-6655
Language: English
Submitted on: Apr 14, 2025
Accepted on: Oct 23, 2025
Published on: Nov 18, 2025
Published by: Ubiquity Press
In partnership with: Paradigm Publishing Services
Publication frequency: 1 issue per year

© 2025 Catalina-Codruta Dobre, Giuseppe Faldi, published by Ubiquity Press
This work is licensed under the Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 License.