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Living Labs: From Niche to Mainstream Innovation Management

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  • Katharina Greve

    (Centre for Science, Technology & Innovation Policy, Institute for Manufacturing, University of Cambridge, Cambridge CB3 0FS, UK
    The Networks and Urban Systems Centre (NUSC), Business School, University of Greenwich, London SE10 9LS, UK)

  • Riccardo De Vita

    (The Networks and Urban Systems Centre (NUSC), Business School, University of Greenwich, London SE10 9LS, UK)

  • Seppo Leminen

    (Department of Business, Strategy and Political Sciences, University of South-Eastern Norway, 7053 Drammen, Norway
    Department of Marketing, Aalto University School of Business, FI-00076 Aalto, Finland
    Sprott School of Business, Carleton University, Ottawa, ON K1S 5B6, Canada)

  • Mika Westerlund

    (Sprott School of Business, Carleton University, Ottawa, ON K1S 5B6, Canada)

Abstract

Living Labs have received increasing attention over the last decade. However, despite their growing popularity and ability to positively impact organisations’ innovation performance, mainstream innovation management literature has overlooked the diverse and promising Living Labs research landscape. In an effort to move the field forward, this study analyses extant Living Labs literature in the domain of innovation management. The study identifies conceptual bases informing Living Labs research, maps the collaboration between scholars in the field, examines prevailing themes influencing the debate and reveals the influence of Living Labs research on other domains. Bibliometric methods of co-authorship, keyword co-occurrence analysis as well as bibliographic coupling are employed on two databases. Database A includes 97 focal journal articles and Database B includes all cited sources of Database A, totalling 500 documents. This study reveals the rapid growth of the scholarly literature on Living Labs in the innovation management domain, driven by a core group of authors. However, other contributions from highly visible scholars have the potential to connect Living Lab research to mainstream innovation management studies. The study also identifies the influence of Living Labs research in different application fields and potential for its further evolution.

Suggested Citation

  • Katharina Greve & Riccardo De Vita & Seppo Leminen & Mika Westerlund, 2021. "Living Labs: From Niche to Mainstream Innovation Management," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 13(2), pages 1-25, January.
    • Handle: RePEc:gam:jsusta:v:13:y:2021:i:2:p:791-:d:480733
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    References listed on IDEAS

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    Cited by:

    1. Mathilda du Preez & Monique H. Arkesteijn & Alexandra C. den Heijer & Małgorzata Rymarzak, 2022. "Campus Managers’ Role in Innovation Implementation for Sustainability on Dutch University Campuses," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 14(23), pages 1-12, December.
    2. Sean Geobey, 2022. "Reckoning with Reality: Reflections on a Place-Based Social Innovation Lab," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 14(7), pages 1-18, March.
    3. Erick Elysio Reis Amorim & Monique Menezes & Karoline Vitória Gonçalves Fernandes, 2022. "Urban Living Labs and Critical Infrastructure Resilience: A Global Match?," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 14(16), pages 1-20, August.
    4. Fortiş, Alexandra Emilia & Petcu, Alexandra, 2022. "A Living Lab Approach towards Promoting Innovation," Proceedings of the ENTRENOVA - ENTerprise REsearch InNOVAtion Conference (2022), Hybrid Conference, Opatija, Croatia, in: Proceedings of the ENTRENOVA - ENTerprise REsearch InNOVAtion Conference, Hybrid Conference, Opatija, Croatia, 17-18 June 2022, pages 169-180, IRENET - Society for Advancing Innovation and Research in Economy, Zagreb.
    5. Wei Nie & Katharina Vita & Tariq Masood, 2024. "An ontology for defining and characterizing demonstration environments," Journal of Intelligent Manufacturing, Springer, vol. 35(7), pages 3501-3521, October.
    6. Franzò, Simone & Doppio, Nicola & Natalicchio, Angelo & Frattini, Federico & Mion, Luca, 2023. "Designing innovation contests to support external knowledge search in small and medium-sized enterprises," Technovation, Elsevier, vol. 121(C).
    7. Dimitri Schuurman & Seppo Leminen, 2021. "Living Labs Past Achievements, Current Developments, and Future Trajectories," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 13(19), pages 1-6, September.
    8. Afacan, Yasemin, 2023. "Impacts of urban living lab (ULL) on learning to design inclusive, sustainable, and climate-resilient urban environments," Land Use Policy, Elsevier, vol. 124(C).

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