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MITx: Transformative Living Labs in Urban Climate Action and Transportation Planning

This course is an introduction to sustainable and equitable solutions in urban mobility, and to the “living labs” model: a method of co-development among public and private actors, researchers, and civil society to accelerate innovation in climate action and sustainable urban planning and development.

Transformative Living Labs in Urban Climate Action and Transportation Planning
6 weeks
8–10 hours per week
Instructor-paced
Instructor-led on a course schedule
Free
Optional upgrade available

There is one session available:

After a course session ends, it will be archivedOpens in a new tab.
Starts Jul 16
Ends Aug 27

About this course

Skip About this course

“Transformative Living Labs in Mobility” introduces living laboratory model of achieving sustainable urban mobility systems. The goal of the course is to explore the ways that multiple stakeholders and agencies organize and investigate living labs to find solutions for urban mobility.

Mobility planning plays a key role in building more sustainable cities and providing equitable access to economic opportunities, education, healthcare and social activities. The living lab concept can be a helpful tool to achieve these goals. This co-development process forms coalitions that enable transformative change, addresses climate change, and supports inclusive, sustainable urban development. Urban change makers can use the living labs approach to highlight the benefits of innovations and interventions and test the validity in collaboration with authorities, academia, civil society, private sector and end-users.

This course will bring all relevant aspects of living labs together into a coherent approach for testing innovative sustainable mobility solutions in urban living labs, and will highlight interlinkages and priorities in the planning and implementation process. It features projects currently implemented through Urban Pathways and SOLUTIONSplus, and was developed with support from UN Habitat.

This course is designed for learners in:

  • international organizations
  • local or national governments
  • consultancies
  • private industry and finance
  • incubators and start-ups

Especially important are audiences in developing countries, where urbanization and transportation infrastructure are rapidly developing and outdated, inequitable, and carbon-intensive approaches may be leapfrogged.

At a glance

  • Institution: MITx
  • Subject: Environmental Studies
  • Level: Intermediate
  • Prerequisites:
    • Strong English language skills recommended
    • Ability to perform basic mathematical operations
  • Language: English
  • Video Transcript: English
  • Associated programs:
  • Associated skills:Innovation, Research, Urban Planning, Urban Sustainability, Urbanization, Planning

What you'll learn

Skip What you'll learn
  • The role of transportation and mobility planning in climate action plans aiming to reduce greenhouse gas emissions and mitigate climate change
  • Key principles and methodologies of living labs
  • How to develop and implement a living lab, including stakeholder engagement and coalition building
  • How to integrate the living labs model with policy making, planning, and private entities to drive urban mobility solutions globally

Who can take this course?

Unfortunately, learners residing in one or more of the following countries or regions will not be able to register for this course: Iran, Cuba and the Crimea region of Ukraine. While edX has sought licenses from the U.S. Office of Foreign Assets Control (OFAC) to offer our courses to learners in these countries and regions, the licenses we have received are not broad enough to allow us to offer this course in all locations. edX truly regrets that U.S. sanctions prevent us from offering all of our courses to everyone, no matter where they live.

This course is part of Future Energy Systems XSeries Program

Learn more 
Expert instruction
4 high-quality courses
Instructor-led
Assignments and exams have specific due dates
11 months
8 - 11 hours per week

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