Table 1 The GLOCULL project

The GLOCULL project aimed to advance ULL research by grouping several ULLs under the shared theme of the FWE nexus as part of the JPI Urban Europe funding scheme SUGI (Sustainable Urbanisation Global Initiative). The ULLs in GLOCULL cover a broad range of geographical contexts, actor configurations and purposes (see Table 2). They were all deeply rooted in their local contexts, building on pre-existing relationships with local partners. The form of the ULLs differed in many ways, including their local contexts, governance structures and size. The experiments and interventions developed and realised in the GLOCULL labs adopted a broad variety of methodological approaches and addressed diverse sustainability challenges.

Through its design, the project aimed to generate new insights into 1) the development of local FWE innovations; 2) interdisciplinary international collaboration through the consortium; and – central to this paper – 3) the comparability, better generalisability and transferability of lab and experiment learning and outcomes.