Living labs are designed to allow innovations to be “tested” for a limited period under conditions as close to reality as possible, and with regulatory oversight, even if they would otherwise encounter limitations or unresolved questions under the existing legal framework. As test environments for innovation and regulation, living labs offer enormous potential—particularly for the digital and sustainable transformation of the economy and society. As test environments for innovation and regulation, living labs offer enormous potential—particularly for the digital and sustainable transformation of the economy and society. They make it possible to test the opportunities and risks of an innovation, enable regulatory learning, foster participation, and thereby strengthen public acceptance of innovation.

Living labs are therefore crucial for digital transformation, but also for socio-ecological transformation. They test new technologies and innovative solutions in a participatory manner, while at the same time providing insight into how and within which regulatory framework innovations should be governed in the future so that everyone can benefit.

Living labs are a new form of collaboration between science and civil society that focuses on mutual learning in an experimental environment. Stakeholders from science and practice come together to develop and test scientifically and socially viable solutions based on a shared understanding of the problem. The concept of a “lab” is thus expanded beyond its traditional natural and engineering sciences connotation into a social context.