Living Lab research project

The Living Lab project is a unique feature of the Global Responsibility & Leadership programme and provides you with the opportunity to apply your academic knowledge and skills in the real world.

Real-world questions

During the Living Lab project, you work together with private and public stakeholders and learn how to translate a real-world question into a question suited for academic research, do the research, and then translate your findings back into recommendations for the stakeholder. As such, the Living Lab project creates a win-win situation: you learn how to apply your academic knowledge in actual, real-life contexts and develop related skills (communication, collaboration, problem-solving, research) whereas public and private stakeholders get to work with talented young people that are able to provide insight into questions important for the region.

Students Esthy, Mirjam and Daria for example, designed the board game 'Crossroads' in collaboration with Amnesty international, aiming to create more awareness about the intersectional position of LGBTQI+ refugees living in the Netherlands: "Amnesty is going to translate the game into Dutch, so it can be played during their guest lectures at, for example, Dutch primary or secondary schools. We were thrilled that the result was not just a paper. It is actually used inside and outside the university and therefore really makes a difference, or impact."

Examples of Living Lab projects

• Fries Social Planbureau: investigate how civilian initiatives can collaborate and co-create with institutions to promote social inclusion and economical change.
• Amnesty International: conduct participatory research to enhance the social capital among youngsters in order to strengthen international human rights.
• Elodea: look into climate resilient food production in Friesland, specifically how pear soils can be repurposed to make them more resilient to change.

Student showcases Living Lab projects 2019 - 2020