Living Laboratories

Living Laboratories are a fundamentally different way to view the relationship that researchers have with the people and organizations they interact with in communities. It is a concept based on co-creating approaches to research activities and information dissemination within regions. Our living labs were established with the Resilience and Climate Change Cooperative Project (RCCCP). The RCCCP is an initiative formed within the Institute for Sustainable Communities to change how critical disaster resiliency and climate change challenges are identified and addressed. 

We believe in the importance of creating long-term change through co-learning with communities around strategic needs related to coastal hazards and climate change, and supporting communities to actualize their own resilience. We will strive to apply the knowledge developed from our work in Houston to support research, community engagement, and educational activities throughout the U.S. 
 
Training the next generation of interdisciplinary, engaged researchers is a key goal of the RCCCP. To meet this goal, we utilize the authentic learning education model to provide opportunities for students to approach complex real-world problems and apply methods from specific fields of study to develop interventions to address them. Through high-impact interdisciplinary learning experiences that include active and service based learning, students involved with the RCCCP will be prepared to succeed in the classroom and beyond. The Living Labs provide a platform in which to train and promote the next generation of scientific leaders.