Transition Super Living Labs as transition accelerators towards climate neutrality
TIME
11:00 – 12:15
TRACKS
TRACK 2: Living Labs for Policies, Governance, collaboration and innovation ecosystems.
TRACK 5: Living Labs Operation, Methods, Tools, and Impact.
ORGANISER
Georgia Ayfantopoulou and Maria Konstantinidou (CERTH/HIT)
Target Audience
Policymakers and city representatives; Companies and entrepreneurs; Researchers and academics; Living Lab representatives and practitioners.
Type of Session
Topic Debate
DESCRIPTION
The transition to carbon neutrality is an urgent topic and LLs have an important role to play. The Transition Super LLs can operate as transition accelerators that bridge bottom up & top-down policies and enable collaborative and cross sectorial innovation and synergies. Working on creating knowledge for coalition of local/regional LLs of different thematic focus in the same geographical area, the Transition Super Living Labs maximise the added value created for the local innovation ecosystems, speeding up the achievement of transition goals in alignment with the EU Missions while safeguarding sectorial LLs development.
Participants of the session will walk away with a comprehensive understanding of the pivotal role Living Labs play in accelerating the transition to carbon neutrality preparing the right conditions for embracing collaborative innovation across sectors and the arguments for the society and the industry ‘’fair’’ involvement.
Agenda
- Welcome and introduction of the session (Georgia Ayfantopoulou, CERTH/HIT) (5min)
- Conceptualization and operationalization of LLs in extant Transition STR frameworks (Anton Sentic, ZHAW Zurich University of Applied Sciences) (10 min)
- The need for Cross sectorial LL approach to support transition to climate neutrality and EU missions (Georgia Ayfantopoulou, CERTH/HIT) (10 min)
- How can LL support a green, digital, social, and fair transition? (Artur Serra Hurtado, i2cat) (10 min)
- Energy and Mobility Living Labs at the EC JRC – A Collaborative Approach to EV Charging Behavioural Experiments (Stefano Tarantolo, EC JCR) (10 min)
- Transition enabling methods and tools for creating added value to cross-sectorial initiatives for economic transformation (Maria Konstantinidou, CERTH/HIT) (10 min)
- Panel discussion moderated by Georgia Ayfantopoulou and Q&A (15 min)
- Concluding remarks (Georgia Ayfantopoulou, CERTH/HIT) (5 min)
SPEAKER BIOS
Georgia Ayfantopoulou
Deputy Director and-Research Director at CERTH/HIT
Georgia Ayfantopoulou
Deputy Director and-Research Director at CERTH/HITGeorgia Ayfantopoulou is CERTH/HIT's Deputy Director and-Research Director. She is head of the Research Department “Infrastructure, Networks, Mobility & Logistics†with high expertise in Traffic Management, Transport Systems Management, Use of Telematics Applications in: Maritime, Road and Combined Transport, GIS, Vehicle Fleet Management, Operations Research and in Road Safety. She has been assigned as Project Coordinator, Technical and Evaluation Manager for several EU as well as Greek projects. She manages Thessaloniki Smart Mobility Living Lab, which is an efficient member of ENoLL.  
Anton Sentic
Senior Research Associate ZHAW Zurich University of Applied Sciences 
Anton Sentic
Senior Research Associate ZHAW Zurich University of Applied Sciences Anton Sentic (sent@zhaw.ch) is a Living Lab and Transitions researcher working at the Zurich University of Applied Sciences. Currently leading/co-leading LL methodology work packages in the SWEET SWICE and SWEET Lantern energy research consortia, he is also acting as scientific co-lead of the WinLab LL in Winterthur and advisor to several Swiss Living Labs. In parallel with his current work with Living Labs, Anton is also an active member of the Sustainable Transitions Research community, having co-founded the NEST early career Transitons Researcher Network and serving as a member of the STRN Steering Group since 2019. Holding a bachelor’s and master’s degree in Environmental System Sciences with a focus on sustainable business management, as well as a PhD in Innovation Studies from the University of Greenwich, Anton’s main research interests lie in the intersection between Living Lab research and (sustainable) system transition processes, focusing on the role of LL in large-scale transitions and, on the practical side, the development and utilization of management tools and concepts in order to improve the effectiveness and efficiency of innovation processes in LL.
Artur Serra Hurtado
Deputy Director i2cat
Artur Serra Hurtado
Deputy Director i2catArtur Serra Hurtado is Deputy director of i2cat research center and Former Vicepresident of European Network of Living Labs. He is conducting now the research project Catalunya Collaboratory, based in the vision of universal innovation ecosystems. He is co-leading with Antonia Caro, the new Horizon Europe project INTEGER (2022-2024), integrating social innovation into the European Innovation Ecosystems in three European regions: Catalonia, Krakow and Hamburg. Currently he is the head of the ENoLL Action Oriented Task Force on Social Innovation, promoting the collaboration between the ENoLL and the European School of Social Innovation (ESSI) supporting a more human-centric innovation ecosystems. Finally, he is leading a cooperative project with FDSUT, Fondation pour le Dévelopement du Service Universel de Telecomunications de Senegal promoting the first national network of Living labs in this African country. 
Maria Konstantinidou 
Research Associate CERTH/HIT 
Maria Konstantinidou 
Research Associate CERTH/HIT Maria Konstantinidou is urban planner with MSc degrees in Transport management, Environmental planning and Business Administration. Since 2018 she is research associate in Hellenic Institute of Transport (HIT/CERTH), participating in several national and European mobility related projects. Within Thessaloniki Smart Mobility Living Lab she is dealing with topics related to the implementation of Living Lab methodologies, stakeholders’ capacity building and users’ engagement strategies in mobility. 
Stefano Tarantola
Scientific Officer JRC
Stefano Tarantola
Scientific Officer JRCStefano Tarantola is a Scientific Officer at the Joint Research Centre of the European Commission. With a background in Nuclear Engineering and a PhD in Science and Technologies for Engineering from the Polytechnic of Milan, he has been at the forefront of groundbreaking work in the Directorate for Energy, Mobility, and Climate. His expertise lies in conducting methodological work and pre-normative research, particularly in the interoperability of smart electricity grids and electric vehicles. Currently, he leads the living lab for testing digital energy solutions at the JRC Ispra site, engaging citizens in testing digital energy technologies and gamification tools. His work supports the Directorates Generals of the European Commission and other European Institutions. He has experience in simulation modelling and quasi-Monte Carlo methods. He is author of 80 papers in the peer-reviewed literature, and co-author of four books on sensitivity analysis. He has contributed to the dissemination of sensitivity analysis organising summer schools, training courses and conferences.