Designing a Master Course Curriculum for Innovation Through Living Labs

Open innovation is increasingly important in today's world as it leverages access to diverse knowledge and expertise, enhances problem-solving, creativity, and market-driven innovation. Living Labs are open innovation ecosystems that have demonstrated potential towards supporting innovation through real-life interventions and multi-method approaches. The Living Lab approach, methodologies and tools for open innovation are complex and require diverse skills for successful implementation. Developing these skills and competencies within an organization is essential for effectively implementing open innovation strategies and maximizing the benefits it can bring. The presented methodology, followed during the VITALISE H2020 project, goes through the steps for identifying the key skills and content needed for effectively utilizing Living Labs in Open Innovation. The course methodology was designed, involving context analysis, identification of the learning skills and competencies, design of the course modules and the courses’ lectures. It was found that there is a wide range of topics that should be included in such a master course, including the basics of Open Innovation, Living Lab research, stakeholder engagement, user-centred design and innovation management.