What is a Living Lab?
A Living Lab is all about collaboration. It brings together students, staff, and external partners to test ideas, share knowledge, and develop solutions to address real-life challenges and advance sustainability goals.
Why get involved?
For students, Living Labs provide hands on research opportunities, both within coursework and extracurricular activities. This means applying your knowledge to real-world challenges and making a difference on campus and beyond.
What are we trying to achieve?
The University has the target of net-zero emissions, as well as a 50% reduction of waste sent for incineration by 2025. Living Labs bring together research, teaching, and operations to find creative ways to meet these targets while also tackling wider sustainability challenges.
A Living Lab program will champion and test the research of our academics and provide students with the opportunity to get involved in learning and developing this research further, boosting skills, collaboration and employability.
How is a Living Lab different?
A Living Lab isn’t just about technical solutions, it’s about a fresh way of working. It helps us:
- Make smarter decisions by testing new ideas
- Improve how we learn and evaluate our impact
- Connect students, researchers, and communities for real collaboration
At Liverpool, our Living Labs will be unique. We’re not just focusing on campus, we’re working with local communities to address sustainability challenges in the wider city, making a difference beyond the University.
What are the benefits?
- Hands-on learning - Gain real experience that enhances your studies
- Interdisciplinary collaboration - Work with students from different fields to tackle shared challenges
- Community impact - Focus on real issues affecting the University and Liverpool
- Innovation and research - Develop and test new ideas that can shape the future
- More efficient use of resources - Cross-disciplinary projects can streamline efforts and reduce reliance on external consultancy
By taking part in a Living Lab, students build skills, gain experience, and help make a lasting impact on campus and in the city.
Ready to get involved? Propose a project!