Towards a Cyclical Concept of Real-World Laboratories

Abstract

The transformative research approach of Real-World Laboratories (RWL) has recently attracted attention in German sustainability science. Some definitions and understandings have been published, but guidelines and procedural quality criteria for establishing and running a RWL are still missing. To address this gap, this article has two aims. First, it aims to derive key components of RWLs from the current discourse on RWLs and similar, but more elaborated research approaches. Second, it aims to transfer these key components into a comprehensive research practice. This practice is illustrated by the RWL process in the project “Well-being Transformation Wuppertal” (WTW).

Methodologically, the article builds on a review of RWL-related approaches for collaborative, intervention-oriented research. This includes transition management, transdisciplinary process models and action research. Based on this review, eight key components for RWLs are proposed. They position RWLs as a normatively framed approach that aims to contribute to local action for sustainable development and the empowerment of change agents. The approach uses transdisciplinary methods of knowledge integration and engages in cyclical real-world interventions within certain spatial and content-related boundaries.

The components are transferred into a flowchart, detailing process steps, aims, responsibilities and overall principles for putting RWLs into practice. Thus, a hitherto missing tool for designing and running RWLs is provided. Then, the RWL in the district of Mirke, Wuppertal, is used as an empirical example to illustrate the application of the flowchart and related key components. Consecutive discussions centre on the different roles of researchers and practitioners in the research process, as well as the relevance of an underlying theory of change for effective interventions. Finally, critical reflection, application and amendment of the proposed flowchart are encouraged.

Acknowledgements

The authors wish to thank Uwe Schneidewind and Maria Behrens for their helpful comments on previous versions of this article. We are also grateful for valuable comments from our (supervising) colleagues within the research project “Well-being Transformation Wuppertal”: Oscar Reutter, Philipp Schepelmann, Hans Haake, Katharina Schleicher and Katrin Maibaum. Furthermore, we want to thank Leonie Büttner for her helpful assistance. Special thanks to the organisers and participants of two international conferences: the Transformative Research and Development in Urban and Regional Environment Conference 2016 in Bozen-Bolzano and the International Sustainability Transitions Conference 2016 in Wuppertal. The final version also benefitted highly from constructive critique from Roland Scholz, Daniel Lang, Ulli Vilsmaier, Stefan Zerbe and three anonymous reviewers. This work was supported by the German Federal Ministry of Education and Research (BMBF) under Grant Research for Sustainable Development (FONA), award number 01UT1412A.

Notes

This article was accepted for publication in June 2017. As a result, publications made available after this date have not been referred to in this article.

Additional information

Notes on contributors

Matthias Wanner

Matthias Wanner holds a degree in psychology and political studies. He is a research fellow at the Wuppertal Institute, member of the Center for Transformation Research and Sustainability and a doctoral student at Leuphana University’s Faculty of Sustainability. His areas of research include transdisciplinary research in real-world laboratories, bottom-up approaches and psychological dimensions for societal change.

Annaliesa Hilger

Annaliesa Hilger holds an MA in Sustainability Economics and Management from the University of Oldenburg, Germany, and a BA in Sociology and Communication Studies from the University of Münster, Germany. She is a PhD student and research fellow at TransZent in Wuppertal, Germany. Her fields of interest include sustainability research, transformative and transdisciplinary research approaches, and urban development.

Janina Westerkowski

Janina Westerkowski is a PhD student and research fellow at the Center for Transformation Research and Sustainability in Wuppertal, Germany. She graduated in spatial planning, geography and social science. As part of the research project “Well-being Transformation Wuppertal” she accompanied a civil society group in the Real- World Laboratory Arrenberg to establish a Food Policy Council in Wuppertal.

Michael Rose

Michael Rose is a research fellow at the Center for Transformation Research and Sustainability at the University of Wuppertal, Germany. After graduating in political science in Bamberg he received his doctorate in Düsseldorf. He has taught several courses on the politics of sustainability. Publications include “Transforming Well-Being in Wuppertal” (In Sustainability, 9 (12), pp. 2375) and Zukünftige Generationen in der heutigen Demokratie (2018, Springer).

Franziska Stelzer

Franziska Stelzer holds a degree in psychology from the University of Braunschweig, Germany, and a PhD in economics from the University of Wuppertal, Germany. Since 2011 she has a staff function at the Wuppertal Institute for Climate, Environment and Energy. Her research interests include transformative science, real-world laboratories and societal impact assessments.

Niko Schäpke

Niko Schäpke is a post-doctoral candidate in sustainability transformation at Chalmers University of Technology and research associate at the Faculty of Sustainability, Leuphana University. Research interests: transformative science, sustainability transitions and transdisciplinarity. He is leading guest editor of a recent GAIA special issue on “Labs in the Real World: Advancing Transdisciplinarity and Transformations”.