Living Labs: Real-World Solutions for Climate-Health Challenges
The Living Labs in ISMED-CLIM serve as real-world environments where innovative interventions are tested and adapted to address climate-related health risks in the Mediterranean. These Living Labs are central to the project, allowing solutions to be refined and evaluated in diverse, practical contexts while engaging local communities and stakeholders.
What Are Living Labs?
Living Labs are collaborative spaces where researchers, policymakers, healthcare professionals, and community members work together to co-create, test, and validate solutions. By focusing on specific locations with unique environmental and health challenges, these labs ensure that interventions are grounded in real-world conditions and are tailored to local needs.
Outdoor Workers (Greece, Spain):
Living Labs in these countries work to reduce the risks of heat-related illnesses among outdoor workers. By implementing early warning systems and personalized recommendations, these labs help mitigate the impacts of heat exposure on this high-risk group.
Pregnant Women (Italy, Cyprus):
Dedicated efforts are focused on managing the health impacts of air pollution and heat on mothers and unborn children. These Living Labs aim to develop strategies that reduce exposure and provide better health monitoring for this vulnerable population.
Older Adults with Hypertension (Spain, Cyprus):
These labs focus on monitoring the cardiovascular effects of heat exposure among older adults with hypertension. The interventions include real-time alerts and healthcare strategies to protect this group from the adverse effects of extreme temperatures.
Zoonotic Disease Surveillance (Portugal):
In Portugal, the Living Labs emphasize the protection of high-risk professionals from vector-borne diseases. Advanced tools for disease surveillance are tested and refined to provide early detection and prevention strategies for zoonotic diseases.
Healthcare System Toolkit (Cyprus):
This Living Lab is dedicated to building a climate-resilient healthcare model for Mediterranean hospitals. By testing resource allocation strategies, emergency protocols, and climate adaptation plans, the toolkit supports healthcare systems in responding to climate-related health challenges.
Collaborative and Scalable Solutions
Each Living Lab involves close collaboration with local stakeholders, including healthcare providers, policymakers, and community members.
By working directly with the affected populations, the labs ensure that the solutions are practical and scalable to other regions facing similar challenges.
This approach supports ISMED-CLIM’s goal of creating a healthier, more resilient Mediterranean.
Impact of Living Labs
The Living Labs approach ensures that ISMED-CLIM’s solutions are practical, effective, and adaptable. By integrating the perspectives of local stakeholders and testing solutions in diverse environments, the project delivers interventions that can be scaled and replicated across the Mediterranean region and beyond.
Living Labs are not just about innovation; they are about building trust, fostering collaboration, and delivering solutions that work for real people in real situations. Through this approach, ISMED-CLIM ensures a sustainable and impactful response to the health challenges posed by climate change.