Wuppertal Institut for Climate, Environment, Energy GmbH
Description
The Wuppertal Institute is a leading think tank for sustainability and transformation research focused on impact and practical application. The Institute facilitates transformation processes towards a climate-friendly and resource-efficient world.
The UN-Habitat Collaborating Center is organised as a Research Unit at the Wuppertal Institute. It is part of the Urban Living Lab Center, which supports transformative living labs in Asia, Europe, Africa, and Latin America. The Urban Living Lab Center is the first Collaborating Center of the United Nations Human Settlements Programme (UN-Habitat). It is co-hosted by the Massachusetts Institute of Technology, the Technische Universität Berlin, the Wuppertal Institute, regional partner universities and network partners. Scientists support the joint development of transformative living labs. In cooperation with partner institutions, the Research Unit validates innovative policy measures, technologies, and business models for urban core sectors, including mobility, energy and urban planning. The concepts are tested and integrated into transformative strategies.
Role and Key Contribution to the Project
Wuppertal Institute (WI) brings in its expertise and network to validate the GIANTS concepts in participatory living labs and foster replication in advanced and emerging markets. Moreover, it integrates concepts developed under GIANTS into the Urban Living Lab Center, an UN-Habitat Collaborating Center, which comprises a network of start-up incubators. This facilitates the replication of the GIANTS platform concept and the collaboration with European counterparts.