Navigating uncertainty

Facilitating collective learning in an urban living lab through co-design with multiple stakeholders

Samenvatting

Urban living labs create collective learning environments in which students co-design with multiple stakeholders around societal challenges, often under conditions of uncertainty. While these collaborations are widely valued by students, educators and stakeholders, they can also generate discomfort due to their open-ended and relational nature. However, it remains relatively unexplored how living labs enable students to co-design with multiple stakeholders, and to navigate the changing circumstances and open-endedness of the process.

In this paper we examined how an urban living lab supports students as they engage in collective learning and co-design with multiple stakeholders. We reflect on the practice of the last 10 years of Inholland Urban Leisure & Tourism Lab in Amsterdam Noord (ULT Lab).

The methodology included interviewing students, stakeholders and lab staff and re-reading students’ reflections.

The resulting 5E framework highlights how five structured, relational activities (Explore, Engage, Envision, Experiment and Evaluate) can help students navigate uncertainty while maintaining meaningful stakeholder relationships. These insights provide practical guidance for educators designing lrban living labs that aim to support co-design and collective learning.