Open Air Laboratories (OALs) are natural and rural ‘living labs’ where nature based solutions are co-designed, co-developed, deployed, tested and demonstrated with the local stakeholders of OPERANDUM.
Our OALs cover a wide range of hazards, with different levels of climate projections, land use and socio-economic characteristics. In total we have 10 different open air laboratories. These provide concrete, flexible and transportable frameworks in order to expand the adoption of different infrastructures across Europe and in developing countries. We focus on three different types of infrastructures:
- Green infrastructure: this is a strategically planned network of natural and semi-natural areas with other environmental features designed and managed to deliver a wide range of ecosystem services. Read more on green infrastructure.
- Blue infrastructure: these are almost the same as green infrastructure, only they are linked to water. They can be pools, ponds and pond systems, wadis, etc. They are often combined with green infrastructure, creating blue-green infrastructure.
- Hybrid infrastructure: this is a combination of natural and built infrastructure. The specific built infrastructure is often installed simultaneously with restored or created natural infrastructure.
OPERANDUM has 10 different locations with OALs.