About the project

The subject of our project are the Real-World Laboratories of the university and their contribution to transformative research. We want to seize, present, and activate the knowledge generated in the different Real-World Laboratory projects for a systematic knowledge transfer both within the university and to non-academic partners from industry, administration, and society. In the process, three key questions determine our work: Why Real-World Laboratories? What constitutes a Real-World Laboratory? And how do you realize a Real-World Laboratory? For now, our focus is on the origin of the idea of a Real-World Laboratory and on the projects that were/are funded within the program of the state of Baden-Württemberg “Strengthening the Contribution of Science for a Sustainable Development”.

Doing research in a Real-World Laboratory: The project-related results are sufficiently documented, published, and freely accessible. However, better visibility and pooling of the data in one place are crucial for enabling its retrieval and application. The innovative knowledge in the field of transformative research must be actively maintained, so that it can be used successfully in future research projects.

Experimenting in the Real-World Laboratory: Experience and robust knowledge of how sustainable transformation can succeed are in high demand in society. There is a specific demand for the activation of this knowledge, new real-word laboratory initiatives, and scientific support of transformative projects.

Learning in the Real-World Laboratory: The courses that promote and foster sustainable development and exploratory learning are a strong quality of the university’s Real-World Laboratories. The interdisciplinary, transdisciplinary, participatory, and activity-based project seminars offered are to become more visible.

The content of the website was designed and created in a participatory process that involved scientists, students, representatives from the city administration and politics, non-academic partners as well as civil-society actors who were/are involved in the Stuttgart Real-World Laboratories. Workshops, surveys, and interviews were conducted for this purpose.

These formats were accompanied by evaluations of research literature, project documentation and publications, press reports, and more.

This website is both a knowledge platform that can strengthen the cooperation between scientists and students and an interface between the university and urban society. It is intended to initiate other cooperation projects and strengthen the dialog.

August 1, 2021 - February 28, 2023

The project was funded by the University of Stuttgart, Department of Knowledge and Technology Transfer, with EUR 50,000 as an interdisciplinary knowledge transfer project.