Co-design in real-world laboratories: Fostering transformative capacity for sustainable mobility

Abstract

How can co-design processes in transdisciplinary real-world laboratories support social-ecological transformations? Drawing on three mobility-related projects, this article highlights how co-design helps manage complexity, align visions, and foster agency for change.Transdisciplinary research addresses complex sustainability challenges by integrating scientific and practical knowledge through collaborative approaches such as co-design. This article explores how co-design processes within three real-world laboratory (RwL) projects ‐ WohnMobil , PendelLabor , and transform-R ‐ support social-ecological transformations, particularly in the context of sustainable mobility. We offer coordinates and guidance for the set-up, design and organization of co-design processes in mobility research, pointing out learnings, areas of flexibility and adaptations from the ideal type. Using document analysis and reflective workshops, we examine how co-design contributes to handling complexity and uncertainty, to mediating differing visions of the future, and to fostering agency for change. The results show that co-design enables shared problem framing, joint experimentation, and stakeholder engagement across governance levels. However, the success of co-design depends on strategic actor selection, facilitation, and the alignment of research and practice goals. We conclude that flexible, well-facilitated co-design processes can enhance transformative capacity in RwLs, offering methodological insights for transdisciplinary sustainability research.

The authors' abstract, as published at the source. GAIA - Ecological Perspectives for Science and Society, 2026 · DOI ↗