Development of living labs to support gendered energy technology innovation in poor urban environments

Abstract

Working together with end-users and different private and public stakeholders towards a common goal in a real-life setting creates a rich environment for co-design, co-creation, co-innovation and sharing of different ideas in an iterative fashion. Such spaces are termed Living Labs. This paper builds on the understanding of Living Labs and explores the best application of the concept to support gendered energy technology innovation in poor urban environments. Using a case study of a poor urban informal environment in South Africa, this paper describes the implementation of the Living Lab concept in seeking security of energy services in the household energy sector and the roles of the identified stakeholders towards operationalisation of the Lab. Living Labs are dynamic innovation spaces that consider a multidimensional approach (technical, economic, usability, regulative, environmental, social, etc.) to problem solving and ease future implementation and diffusion of solutions, technologies, and innovations, if managed well.