SLU and Botildenborg strengthen collaboration and create a new Living Lab

Botildenborg is an award-winning farm and idea-based organisation that since 2013 has developed a unique meeting place in Malmö, characterised by social activities linked to sustainable food production. Botildenborg's social innovations have created a space where both people and knowledge have the opportunity to grow. The Swedish University of Agricultural Sciences, SLU, and Botildenborg have collaborated in various ways over the years, and now the relationship will be further strengthened through a new collaboration with the SLU Urban Futures platform.

A dynamic innovation environment

In order to address current - and future - challenges, traditional approaches need to be complemented with new forms of collaboration and co-production of knowledge, which can be faster implemented in society. Living Labs can be one of these approaches. SLU Urban Futures has been studying the Living Lab format, which can be described as an innovation environment where experimentation, collaboration and co-creation are at the centre. Urban Living Labs can mobilize science-society collaborations as means to learn from and experiment with novel processes, actor-constellations and practices otherwise often impossible to set up in typical urban settings.

Together with the Botildenborg Foundation and local partners, the platform is now exploring how a Living Lab can be developed on the farm, with the aim of conducting research on social innovations and disseminating knowledge both nationally and internationally. This collaboration offers new opportunities for research and education and a place to build transdisciplinary capacities as well as knowledge for transformative science.