Experimenting in Open Systems – on the Epistemology of Living Labs

Experimenting in Open Systems – on the Epistemology of Living Labs

Cooperation Group

October 2022 - April 2024

The cooperation group aims at the epistemological analysis of a type of research that has recently become widespread under various names - living labs, urban labs, transformative scenario planning, experimental innovation policy. We have chosen the term 'living lab' ('Reallabore') as the overarching term because all these activities have as a feature the 'labisation' of non-academic contexts of action. The projects of these laboratories have real experimental features and intend to link scientific knowledge acquisition with social problem solving. Their work is interdisciplinary and participatory. Living labs have attracted theoretical attention primarily from a science policy and methodological-organisational perspective; from a philosophy of science perspective, they have received only rudimentary attention so far. The cooperation group will focus on the question of the epistemic characteristics of such labs. The central aim of the project is a monograph by four authors on the topic of "Pragmatic Epistemology for Living Labs". It is to be produced with the help of three workshops in which experts in living lab research as well as representatives from five relevant university and non-university institutions will participate. This format ensures that the epistemological analyses do not emerge at the green table, but in close exchange with experiences from practice.