Real-world laboratories in Urban, Rural, and Marine contexts
Abstract Real-world laboratories (RwLs) have emerged as a scientifically grounded, sustainability-oriented, transdisciplinary approach to support transformative change through the co-production of knowledge via engagement and experimentation. While originally rooted in urban settings, real-world laboratories have increasingly been developed in rural and marine areas. Urban, rural, and marine areas have unique contextual characteristics that remain insufficiently addressed in both research and practice. This paper offers a first comparative view on real-world laboratories in urban, rural, and marine settings by using four different epistemological and ontological perspectives in spatial science: bio-physical, social-constructivist, geographic, and social-materialistic. We highlight key differences and investigate the implications of identified differences for transformative governance.
Authors
- Claudia Wolff (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0002-9724-484X)
- Miriam von Thenen (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0002-4910-2564)
- Artem Korzhenevych (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0002-3835-9372)
- Maria Busse (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0001-7647-0955)
- Markus Egermann (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0002-2078-7440)
- Christian Wagner-Ahlfs
- Daniela Kempa (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0002-9815-431X)
- Kai de Graaf
- Marion Glaser
- Heike Schwermer
Institutions
- Leibniz University Hannover (DE)
- Leibniz Centre for Tropical Marine Research (DE)
- Leibniz Institute for Baltic Sea Research Warnemünde (DE)
- Hochschule für Angewandte Wissenschaften Kiel (DE)
- Christian-Albrechts-Universität zu Kiel (DE)
- Leibniz Centre for Agricultural Landscape Research (DE)
- Leibniz Institute of Ecological Urban and Regional Development (DE)
- Technische Universität Dresden (DE)
Publication Details
- Journal
- Urban Transformations
- Published
- 2026-09-11
- DOI
- https://doi.org/10.1186/s42854-026-00109-w
- Primary Topic
- Sustainability and Climate Change Governance
- Type
- article
- Field-Weighted Citation Impact
- 0.00
Funders
- Christian-Albrechts-Universität zu Kiel