Date of Award
2023
Document Type
Open Access Master's Thesis
Degree Name
Master of Science in Environmental and Energy Policy (MS)
Administrative Home Department
Department of Social Sciences
Advisor 1
Angie Carter
Advisor 2
Adam Wellstead
Committee Member 1
Kathryn Hannum
Committee Member 2
Anat Gofen
Abstract
In the past two decades, the living lab has emerged as an innovative approach for addressing a wide range of issues. Living labs challenge traditional top-down research and development approaches in an array of subjects including climate change and sustainability, healthcare, information communication technology, and urban planning. Despite their growth, the current conceptualization of living labs is incomplete. The conceptual ambiguity surrounding living labs prevents researchers and practitioners from appreciating their true value, limitations, and appropriate applications. My thesis builds on Dekker et al.’s (2020) living lab research by including key concepts from the “co” paradigm literature that includes the role of co-creation, co-design, and co-production in the living lab research approach. In the first empirical chapter, a bibliometric analysis of 551 documents utilizes the mapping software VOSviewer providing an overview of broad trends in the living lab literature. The results confirm Dekker et al.’s (2020) framework as well as the presence of the “Co-” paradigm in the living lab literature. My second empirical chapter is a case study of the Lake Superior Living Lab Network (LSLLN) using grounded theory methods (Charmaz, 1996) in my analysis of interviews with LSLLN members and a content analysis of LSLLN’s website.
Creative Commons License
This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 License.
Recommended Citation
DiLisi, Madelina E., "THE HIDDEN ROLE OF THE “CO-” PARADIGM IN THE CONCEPTUALIZATION AND APPLICATION OF LIVING LABS", Open Access Master's Thesis, Michigan Technological University, 2023.