The Real-World Laboratory approach was formulated and disseminated through the conceptual and practical work of the Wuppertal Institute. The specifically German-language discourse on Real-World Laboratories is a part of national and international research that is conducted in real-world based projects. Real-World Laboratories are related to “(sustainable) living labs” (Kareborn & Stahlbrost 2009, Liedtke et al. 2012, 2015) and “urban transition labs” (Nevens et al. 2013).
The Real-World Laboratory format was largely established within a decade in externally funded research projects. It took on different forms, depending on the funding bodies, the thematic focus, the constellation of actors, and the degree of participation. The original idea is carried by projects from the funding lines in Baden-Württemberg (Ministry of Science, Research and Art 2013: 16, 30f.). Here, the name says it all. The timely major calls for tender by the Federal Ministry of Education and Research (BMBF) include Real-World Laboratories as an important part of the research design.
The term “Real-World Laboratory” has also spread from its origins in transdisciplinary sustainability research into other fields. Since 2019, the Federal Ministry for Economic Affairs and Energy (BMWi) has been pursuing the introduction of Real-World Laboratories as regulative experimental spaces, especially in order to test the governance of new technologies (e.g. by means of experimentation clauses, BMWi 2019). In line with this are the goals of the large-scale Real-World Laboratories that have been funded since 2020 by the Federal Ministry of Transport and Digital Infrastructure (BMVI), now the Federal Ministry of Digital Affairs and Transport (BMDV).
Funding bodies, exemplary funding programs, and the respective definition of a Real-World Laboratory
- Funding bodies
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Federal Ministry of Education and Research (BMBF)
- Funding programs
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- Sustainable Management (NaWi)
- City of the Future 2030+
- Copernicus Projects for the Energy Transition
- Climate Resilience Through Action in Cities and Regions
- MobilitätsWerkStadt 2025
- MobilitätsZukunftsLabor 2050
- various “Research for Sustainability” (FONA) funding measures
- Definition and idea of a Real-World Laboratory
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“A Real-World Laboratory refers to a social context in which researchers implement interventions in the sense of ‘real-world experiments’ in order to learn about social dynamics and processes.” (BMBF 2016:16)
“Real-World Laboratories are defined as targeted changes, accompanied by science, in cities, districts, regions, industries, etc., where a transformation process can take place with the participation of the people affected. They can refer to both technological and social innovations. Mostly, they involve specific interventions to learn about social dynamics and processes. […]“ (BMBF, 2016)
- Funding bodies
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Ministry of Science, Research and the Arts in Baden-Württemberg (MWK)
- Funding programs
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- BaWü Labs
- City
- AI
- Climate
- Definition and idea of a Real-World Laboratory
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"Real-World Laboratories provide the opportunity to test and explore innovative models of action as well as possible solutions by means of cooperation between science and society. In addition, they help us to better understand and specifically shape processes of social change. In a process that is open and unbiased, scientists and stakeholders from interested parties, politics, and business are working together to find sustainable solutions. Real-World Laboratories differ significantly from other research formats by the co-design of science and practice, their transdisciplinarity, their orientation toward civil society, and by their laboratory character. " (MWK)
- Funding bodies
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Ministry of the Environment, Climate Protection and the Energy Sector in Baden-Württemberg
- Funding programs
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Transformation of the Energy System in Baden-Württemberg (Trafo BW, BWPlus)
- Definition and idea of a Real-World Laboratory
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“[…] inter- and transdisciplinary research projects in cooperation with non-academic partners, so-called Real-World Laboratories.“(Ministry of the Environment, Climate Protection and the Energy Sector in Baden-Württemberg, 2018) „The funded projects are intended to exemplify and demonstrate how scientists can work more closely with non-academic partners to support the energy transition […]." (Trafo BW, Ministry of the Environment, Climate Protection and the Energy Sector in Baden-Württemberg)
- Funding bodies
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Federal Ministry for Economic Affairs and Energy/ Climate Protection (BMWi/K)
- Funding programs
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- Energy transition
- Digitalization
- Definition and idea of a Real-World Laboratory
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Real-World Laboratories (“regulatory sandboxes”) provide the special opportunity to learn not only about innovations, but also about their legal framework. As “test rooms for innovation and regulation”, Real-World Laboratories are characterized by three elements. 1 Real-World Laboratories are temporally and spatially limited test rooms in which innovative technologies or business models are tested under real conditions. [... ] 2 Real-World Laboratories use legal margins. [... ] 3 Real-World Laboratories are associated with a “regulatory knowledge interest”. (BMWi, 2019:7)
- Funding bodies
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Federal Ministry of Transport and Digital Infrastructure (BMVI), now the Federal Ministry of Digital Affairs and Transport (BMDV)
- Funding programs
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Various large-scale projects
- Real-World Laboratory “Digital Mobility Hamburg” (RealLabHH)
- Urban Air Mobility U-Space Real-World Laboratory
And programs
- National Cycling Plan (NRVP) etc.
- Definition and idea of a Real-World Laboratory
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Testing new technologies (with / by users) under real conditions in order to test their potential and adapt legal frameworks ( Pressemitteilung des BMVI zu U-Space-Reallabor, 2021).
Source: Wanner, Stelzer 2019: 5, added