Living Labs: A Creative and Collaborative Planning Approach

Communities around the world are facing an increasing number of ‘wicked problems’, many of which are spatial issues. Therefore, high expectations are placed on the role of planning in addressing them. However, such complex challenges cannot be easily solved with the traditional, sectoral planning approaches, or by planners and decision-makers alone; they require a cross-sectoral and societal-inclusive understanding and collaboration of various kinds of stakeholders. Consequently, in the search for new approaches and tools that favour experimentation, flexibility, and collaboration, planners and decision-makers are turning their attention towards the private sector, where Living Labs have been extensively used in open and user-oriented innovation. Despite the growing number of studies that picture them as a ‘magic recipe’ for experimentation and development of creative solutions for ‘wicked problems’, Living Labs have only recently started gaining attention in the spatial domain. In this chapter, we position Living Labs as a creative and collaborative planning approach. Based on a literature review on Living Labs, and on empirical research carried out in three spatial planning and water infrastructure projects from the Netherlands, we propose a five-phased ‘living lab way of working’ and reflect on the role of Living Labs as a planning method. We end by outlining several recommendations that could be useful when considering the use of Living Labs as a planning method. The conclusion of this chapter shows that despite the challenges they pose, Living Labs represent a relevant and growing practice in spatial planning, especially because they provide a conducive way of connecting local-scale and larger-scale planning issues and solutions.

A holistic framework for reshaping urban energy infrastructure in Global South cities, a case study of the Greater Cairo Region, Egypt

Key Messages- Cities are complex systems that need integrated approaches to understand their characteristics and to identify challenges and opportunities for sustainable development.- Context-based and tailored solutions are required for achieving SDGs and developing circular flows. This is particularly important in the Global South.- Integrated and cross-sectoral planning and collaboration are necessary to improve the development of sustainable strategies and interventions to reduce trade-offs. Areas like the Greater Cairo Region in Egypt demonstrate the complexities of action across formal/informal sectors of waste management.

Institutional barriers to coffee tourism development: insights from Ethiopia – the birthplace of coffee

Purpose The purpose of this paper is to identify pathways to improve the performance and competitiveness of Ethiopia's tourism sector using coffee as one essential tourism experience, thereby improving the socio-economic conditions of the local communities who depend on coffee for their livelihoods. Design/methodology/approach Based upon qualitative focus group discussions undertaken with key informants in both the coffee and tourism sectors in Ethiopia. Findings Despite the existing tourism development potential, Ethiopia has not yet fully exploited this position. While the country uses coffee to assist its destination marketing strategies, practical interventions to position coffee as a primary tourism product are absent and remain of critical importance. Research limitations/implications In this exploratory study key informant participants from government and industry share their experience within this policy domain. It is acknowledged that future research aiming to provide a fuller picture of governance in this domain would also include the perspective of community-level coffee growers. Practical implications Paramount among the implications of this study is the need to enhance cross-sectoral planning and collaboration and to establish a bridging organisation that will help integrate the agricultural (coffee) sector and the tourism sector. Social implications This study identifies key governance-related obstacles to addressing rural poverty through coffee-related agri-tourism initiatives in Ethiopia. Originality/value This paper addresses, from a governance perspective, the obstacles and opportunities for coffee as a tourism product/experience in Ethiopia. The paper identifies what interventions and innovations in policy and practice are necessary to enhance the role of Ethiopia's coffee culture in the performance of the country's tourism sector.

Contribution of Marine Spatial Planning in Mexico to Marine and Coastal Management

Marine spatial planning in Mexico is materialized by the ecological ordinance, a cross-sectoral environmental policy instrument. Throughout this instrument, government seeks to strengthen coordination between authorities and society to counter and correct negative consequences of sectoral planning in different government agencies moving forward towards integrated coastal management and the blue economy. The purpose of this article is to describe the experience of marine spatial planning in Mexico, with an emphasis on collaborative governance. The intention is that this perspective may prove its usefulness for other countries with similar socioeconomic, environmental characteristics and/or governance.

Climate Change Policy Coherence across Policies, Plans, and Strategies in Pakistan—Implications for the China–Pakistan Economic Corridor Plan

Climate Change (CC) adaptation and mitigation policy coherence (PC) across sectors is essential to effectively address CC challenges and support synergies. Pakistan is highly vulnerable to CC. In this paper, the extent to which Pakistan’s national and provincial water, agriculture, and energy sector policies, development plans and strategies are aligned in a CC policy coherent manner is established. In this context, a qualitative content document analysis with associated scoring is used to assess government documents. Furthermore, implications of the China–Pakistan Economic Corridor Initiative (CPEC; 2017–2030), the biggest infrastructure investment program ever in Pakistan, are discussed. An important result is that sectoral policies are found to have different degrees of PC. Better coherence is found at federal than at provincial levels. Furthermore, CC policies are found to be more coherently addressed in water and agriculture policies than in energy policies. It is suggested that to achieve higher levels of CC PC, federal and provincial governments should establish mechanisms of intergovernmental consultation for policy-making and cross-sectoral planning, especially in the energy sector. Our findings can help the Government of Pakistan to transform CPEC into a model green Belt and Road Initiative (BRI) in the region. In this context, there are important implications with regards to e.g., reducing coal-based energy projects and environmentally damaging infrastructure activities in sensitive ecosystems. With this paper, the authors want to raise awareness of the key importance of CC PC, particular in context of the BRI. Many countries participating in the initiative have carbon reduction targets in place.

Gesetzgeberische Handlungsspielräume zur Stärkung des aktiven Schallschutzes im Luftverkehrsrecht

Air traffic law deals with noise emissions primarily by means of passive noise protection. Active noise abatement, which starts at the source of emissions, is not given precedence in air traffic approval procedures. The study examines how the legal basis for aviation licensing and for the definition of flight procedures can be strengthened with regard to active noise abatement measures. To this end, it analyzes the scope for action under constitutional, Union and international law and considers all relevant planning levels, including regional planning, urban land use planning and sectoral planning.

Tourism of Italians in Italy through crisis and development: the last 15 years, region by region

Tourism is a very important economic activity for many nations and Italy is among those that particularly benefit from it. In fact, even during the period of pandemic, despite the crisis, tourism in Italy proved to be a particularly resilient sector: among all European countries, Italy is the one that recorded the highest number of total tourist nights-spent. However, tourism statistics are not yet exhaustive in describing a highly variable phenomenon at the territorial level. Even the tourism satellite accounts, so useful for sectoral planning at regional level, are compiled for the whole country. Instead, the territories do not always know themselves, while the enhancement of landscape resources is one of the major issues that has not always been adequately analyzed; also in the recently approved Italian PNRR/Next Generation EU. In this article, we aim to examine the trend of the tourism phenomenon in the various Italian regions over the past 15 years; a period marked by crises of different origins (economic, political, health) which slowed down the economic development of the third millennium. In particular, given the problems mentioned above, we decided to start the research by considering the arrivals in hotels and non-hotel establishments by Italian tourists. The hospitality business is in fact an important part of the tourism industry. We expect domestic tourism to have greater stability, being less affected by international problems. We then examined the tourism of Italians in Italy, in the various regions, from 2006 to 2020. This analysis allowed us to observe the tourism phenomenon in Italy from a different perspective, observing, region by region, the relationship between tourism within the region and tourism coming from others regions. The choice of arrivals, instead of night spent, reduces the influence of the specific type of tourism in each region. The first results appear interesting.

Institutions and Economic Transformation in Africa

Economic transformation suggests sustainable and inclusive economic development. It includes the changes in the structures of the economy in favour of more productive sectors to ensure consistent economic progress. This has been the earnest desire of most African countries. However, achieving economic transformation will require strong institutions, among others. The channels through which institutions can influence the process of economic development using specific country analyses are still under-researched. Thus, this study examines the importance of institutions in the development and sustenance of some important sectors: finance, education, technology, industry, and trade, believed to drive economic transformation. Drawing evidence from Nigeria, the study submits that institutions have varying influence on all the selected sectors. Thus, the role of specific sectoral planning based on a strong institutional framework cannot be overemphasised in a country's quest for economic transformation.

Planung im Untergrund

On the land surface, the familiar and proven instruments of spatial planning and sectoral planning law are used to steer the settlement of projects. The recognizable densification of use of the geological subsurface will lead to the application of planning law instruments as a basis for setting priorities for its use as well. The study examines whether the instruments of sectoral law applicable to the approval of underground projects are capable of balancing the diverse demands on space. Since interdisciplinary planning is fundamentally the responsibility of spatial planning, it will be examined to what extent the subsurface can already be effectively controlled at the level of spatial planning.

THEORETICAL APPROACHES TO MANAGEMENT OF THE MARINE SECTOR IN THE ARCTIC REGION

The economic significance of the Russian Arctic for Russia is determined by its geographical position, huge natural resource, transport and logistics potential. A characteristic feature of the Arctic economy is in its pronounced maritime character, which determines the need for an integrated approach to the state management of maritime economic activities in the Arctic regional direction, including measures of state support for the infrastructural development of regional maritime economic complexes. We can talk about the approaches of integrated coastal zone management (ICZM), well-tested in the world practice, considering sea use as an integral management object. The methodology of integral management proposed in the article is aimed at creating a systemically balanced economic structure of maritime use, including through cluster technologies for the spatial development of water-territorial production complexes (ATPC), as well as reducing conflicts between various participants in economic activity in the process of competitive use of coastal spaces and marine resources. and preservation of the marine environment. From this point of view, the formation of a Coastal Policy should be aimed at coordinating strategies for the development of industries (and individual enterprises) in the interests of the overall development of coastal zones based on logistic principles of cross-sectoral planning. The development and adaptation of mechanisms for the interaction of integrated and sectoral planning necessitate a comprehensive assessment of the effectiveness of the maritime economic complex (MEC) in the region's economy, including the effectiveness of the activities of state authorities in creating favorable conditions for the sustainable development of the region's maritime complex. Such an assessment can be carried out on the principles of constructing a system of balanced indicators that characterize the complex characterizing the maritime complex and its impact on the region's economy.