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Living Lab research concept in Rural Areas

Project description

Expanding the innovative Living Lab concept in rural regions

Living labs are open-innovation ecosystems that prioritise user-centricity and combine concurrent research and innovation processes through public-private partnerships. The strategic development of a rural living lab depends on establishing a sustainable stakeholder partnership. However, the success of a living lab in a rural environment, along with its objectives and ambitions, is determined by the specific context. The EU-funded LIVERUR project aims to enhance the innovative business model of living labs in rural regions. It will conduct a socioeconomic analysis to identify, describe and compare the differences between the new living lab approach and more traditional entrepreneurial approaches. By enhancing our understanding of business models in rural areas, LIVERUR aims to boost the potential for economic diversification in these regions.

Objective

LIVERUR aims at expanding an extremely innovative business model called Living Labs among the rural regions. Living labs are user-centred, open-innovation ecosystems often operating in a territorial context, integrating concurrent research and innovation process within a public-private partnership. The basis for the strategic development of a rural Living Lab is in establishing a sustainable stakeholder partnership; users, policy-makers, companies, researchers enter into agreements on the basis of which they may engage in longer term collaboration. However, a successful Living lab business design can be expected to be highly affected by the specific context of the Living Lab rural environment and by its specific objectives and ambitions. LIVERUR project identifies Living Labs as innovative business models that are currently developing in rural areas, and it will undertake socio-economic analysis to identify, describe and benchmark differences between the new Living Lab approach and more entrepreneurial traditional approaches (mass production, development of prices, optimising the cost structures with the enterprises, rationalisation). LIVERUR project pays particular attention to Living Labs, since they foster a more sustainable mobilisation of resources, improved cooperation between operators along the value chain and lead to new services. Living Lab utilizes the open innovation concept in a wider sense, with success/failure rate determined by empirically based research key factors. Since there is still a lack of empirically grounded studies, the short term objective of LIVERUR is to improve knowledge of business models growing in rural areas, including a through understanding of their potential. In the long term the project will increase the potential for rural economic diversification.

Call for proposal

H2020-RUR-2016-2017

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Sub call

H2020-RUR-2017-2

Coordinator

FUNDACION UNIVERSITARIA SAN ANTONIO
Net EU contribution
€ 207 348,91
Address
AVDA JERONIMOS CAMPUS UNIVERSI S/N UNIVERSIDAD CATOLICA SAN ANTONIO
30107 Murcia
Spain

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Region
Sur Región de Murcia Murcia
Activity type
Higher or Secondary Education Establishments
Links
Total cost
€ 207 348,91

Participants (23)