‘A living lab creates a sense of urgency’ according to one of the participants of the Teaching Lab last week. The function of The Green Village as a tool in TU courses or graduation projects was discussed during a lunch lecture. 

For those who do not know precisely: The Green Village is a living lab for sustainable innovation in the built environment. A testing ground where researchers and companies experiment in innovative projects. The integrative research that takes place on the terrain is a valuable step towards large scale-up in practice. With the participation of all relevant stakeholders (science – business – legislation – the public) hurdles are taken. The multidisciplinary village at the TU Delft is thus also a platform where parties make necessary connections.

How can The Green Village be integrated in educational programs? 

Participants agreed upon the fact that rules and regulations being “switched off” on the terrain creates possibilities. ‘Walking around in a living lab causes a sense of urgency. There is so much to see. Connecting students to projects that are working on real life issues is inspiring.’

How The Green Village can serve as a tool in education was dicussed. Participants came up with several options:

– Specific questions that projects have can serve as cases for students.
– These cases are also useful for joint interdisciplinary projects.
– Honours projects like Decathlon offer possibilities.
– And small innovations scaling up are interesting graduation cases.

Why should The Green Villages be integrated in the educational offer? 

The impact that is required to obtain a better society can be reached when theory is put into practice. It is The Green Village’s goal to accelerate the development and implementation of radical innovations in the field of urban sustainability.

The living lab provides students with a solid grounding in interdisciplinary skills, sustainability and entrepreneurial thinking. Furthermore, it is important that graduates develop competences in the application of technical expertise to real world complexities.

The living lab can be used as a tool in a curriculum to create hands-on education based knowledge on the newest innovations.

Interested in collaborating?
Please contact Nadia Teunissen
nadia.teunissen@thegreenvillage.org