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Lucerne Living Labs Where research meets real life

The Lucerne Living Labs are vibrant spaces where science, society, and everyday life come together. From smart energy systems to thermal comfort in care homes, each lab explores a different facet of sustainable living – through experimentation, collaboration, and innovation. 

The Lucerne Living Labs develop socio-eco-technical solutions for a more efficient energy system ans well as an improved user quality of life. These solutions are community based and use methods of participation and co-creation. The Lucerne University of Applied Sciences and Art acts as the organizational umbrella and legal entity behind Lucerne Living Labs, which is one of five living labs in Switzerland that are part of the federally supported Sweet Lantern Consortium.

EVCELL – Rethinking Urban Mobility

A Living Lab Where Museums Drive Change: at the Swiss Museum of Transport, EVCELL uses interactive exhibits and immersive workshops to explore how people move – and how they might move better. Tools like a VR Microlino simulator and a Mobility Challenge game help visitors and urban planners alike rethink mobility choices. The result? Engaged citizens, valuable data, and smarter urban transport planning.

CELL – Local Energy, Smarter Living

A Real-World Playground for Energy Innovation: CELL transforms real buildings into a testing ground for digital energy solutions. At the Am Aawasser site in Buochs, researchers experiment with solar power, battery storage, and smart control algorithms – all while partnering with households, energy providers, and tech developers. It’s a glimpse into the decentralized, data-driven energy system of the future.

Viva Luzern – Cool Comfort for a Warming World

Designing Thermal Well-Being with Residents: Older adults are among the most vulnerable to heatwaves. In Viva Luzern retirement homes, the “CoolDown” project co-develops gentle, effective ways to stay cool – like curtains, colors, and scents. Through daily monitoring and participatory design, this Living Lab proves that low-tech solutions can have a high impact on quality of life.

Campus Living Lab – Where Ideas Go to Live

A Campus as a Testbed for Sustainable Futures: On the transforming HSLU campus in Horw, students and staff explore how to live, learn, and work more sustainably. From reusing construction materials to testing new layouts and energy-saving technologies, this Living Lab invites the university community to shape the future of education, one experiment at a time.

QUBE – Building Neighborhood Energy Futures

Turning Communities into Energy Cooperatives: QUBE empowers entire neighborhoods to become energy communities. By guiding residents through participatory workshops and structured decision-making, the project helps lay the groundwork for shared solar systems, heating networks, and more. It's a replicable model for local energy action – designed with people, for people.

Yousra Sidqi und Manuel Christen testen Gridly auf dem interkativen Datentisch

Gridly – Learning by Simulating Energy Markets

Play. Learn. Understand the Grid: Gridly is an interactive, visual simulation tool that helps people explore how local energy markets function. Whether you're a student, policymaker, or curious citizen, Gridly makes it fun and easy to understand energy trading, flexibility, and smart grid dynamics – through real scenarios and hands-on experimentation.

Involved people in the Lucerne Living Labs

What's a living lab

Graphic what a Living Lab is

A “User-centered, open innovation ecosystems based on systematic user co-creation approach, integrating research and innovation processes in real life communities and settings”.
A Living Lab is composed of many stakeholders within a Quadruple Helix Model working together in a public-private-people-partnership (PPPP)

Living Labs based research

Living Lab based on research

One of the most important Living Lab concepts is the so-called “Three-layer Model”.
Living Labs act at different levels and this is our conceptual representation of it.
The MACRO level is where we will talk about Stakeholder and Context analysis. The MESO level will consider the different projects that could be managed by the Living Lab. And the MICRO level refers to the specific Tools and Methods available to support and to help fulfill activities and projects taken on by the Living Lab. It is important to mention that there is no hierarchy between these three layers. For example, the use of Tools within the MICRO level during the projects’ development, will support Stakeholder and Project management.