Our Story and Objectives

Our Story

During the HUB23 event organized by the European Commission (EC), member universities of European University Alliances were encouraged to strengthen cooperation between Alliances and other members of the Coalition of the Willing, to further the co-implementation of relevant innovation actions of the European strategy for Universities and the New European Innovation Agenda.

The European Living Lab Hub (ELLH) is one of the seven hubs created as a result of this voluntary bottom-up cooperative effort. It is co-chaired by Dr. Marko Joas of Åbo Akademi University (ÅAU) and Dr. Martin Galvin of University College Cork (UCC) representing respectively the Charm-EU and UNIC European University alliances.

The first virtual Hub Dialogue took place in October 2024. This introduced potential future members to the initiative, proposed governance structure and other formative first steps. Over 50 individuals representing 23 European University Alliances participated and several independent universities, private sector and other organisations joined the event.

During this first convening, participants co-identified joint priorities for a European Higher Education Living Lab ecosystem. These became the basis for the ELLH’s objectives.

Our Objectives

Our objectives are:

SHARE and COOPERATE: Build greater and deeper collaboration between LLs within the European Higher Education ecosystem. Provide a forum for communication and coordination between similar initiatives by mapping and matching member LLs and facilitating collaboration in their work and focus areas.

LEVERAGE: Empower Living Labs to influence and drive change and policy. Provide Living Labs with the capacity to more effectively raise their concerns, suggestions and interventions to the relevant governing bodies, civil society and influencing policy by leveraging their combined efforts, achieving credibility through critical mass and increasing connection with Quadruple Helix (QH) actors.

RESOURCE: Share resources or resource allocation methods between Living Labs. Aid Living Labs by sharing resources and methods to increase efficiency between them. Exchange financial concepts between members.

EXPERTISE: Pursue the creation and training of professionals to become experts in the realm of Living Labs and champion its methodologies. Create a learning community on University Living Labs and setting up international bootcamps in living labs to nurture a new class of Living Lab Expert, knowledgeable in the field and capable of applying its methodologies to a diverse set of scenarios.

REACH and THIRD MISSION: More effectively publicise the utility of Living Lab methodology, and the individual member Living Labs, to researchers, potential stakeholders, partners, investors and civil society by showcasing added value to societal partners. Bridge researchers and startups, disseminating and promoting the Living Lab concept on a European level.

GET REAL: Position Living Labs more closely to real-world challenges and promote a business-oriented approach by answering collectively to current challenges. Bridge the Academia - Industry divide by promoting and disseminating the member’s Living Lab work.

INNOVATION, RESEARCH and TEACHING: Promote Living Labs as main drivers of innovation and research and strengthen Living Labs pedagogic role within Higher Education by developing training activities aligned with the needs of students, educators and university staff. Establish Living Labs as a main teaching approach for the future and conduct research on Living Lab methodologies using the members as both conduits for study as well as testbeds for new concepts and ideas.

Following the first session, two subsequent HUB Dialogue events were held in 2025 to co-create the governance structure. To pursue the Hub’s ambitions, the ELLH has adopted a network organising model based on three Workstreams. Associated action oriented working groups enable network members to converge, co-create and evolve Hub activities and functionality. The ELLH Workstreams are:

1. Driving Knowledge and Practice

2. Driving Research and Innovation

3. Driving Learning and Training