Living Labs as Engines of Transformation: Insights from the Terrassenhaussiedlung

During the 20-year anniversary celebration of the Wegener Center on the 3rd of October 2025, Andrea Jany presented DeCO2 and the Living Lab approach implemented at the Terrassenhaussiedlung in Graz-St. Peter, Austria, one of the central demonstration sites in DeCO2.

Her talk was part of an interactive workshop embedded in the anniversary programme, with the center’s guiding motto: “Paths emerge in that we walk them.” This principle captures the Wegener Center’s conviction that climate-transition pathways do not simply appear, they are created through active collaboration, continuous learning, and engaged research practice. In her presentation, Andrea Jany introduced the Living Lab as a real-world research setting where residents, experts, and institutional partners work together to test and refine climate-neutral renovation strategies.

At the Terrassenhaussiedlung, this collaborative process supports the co-development of adaptive renovation options, energy-efficiency measures, and governance models that are both technically robust and socially grounded. By bridging architectural expertise with climate science and social-science insights, the Living Lab acts as a transdisciplinary interface that brings research directly into everyday life.

The workshop brought together participants from across the Wegener Center’s diverse scientific community, including climate physics, geophysics, geography, and economics, transition research among others. The discussion highlighted how Living Labs can accelerate decarbonization across Europe’s building stock by fostering early stakeholder involvement, long-term engagement, and transparent communication processes. Andrea Jany’s contribution reflected the broader mission of the Wegener Center: generating knowledge that not only explains environmental change but also supports society in shaping a resilient, low-carbon future.

As DeCO2 progresses, the Terrassenhaussiedlung Living Lab continues to serve as a vital testing ground for scalable solutions, illustrating how new pathways toward climate neutrality take form when science and society walk them together.