Tourism Interventions

· As a platform for interdisciplinary applied research in the community setting, the living lab model offers a unique environment for the imagination of tourism interventions that can recast the activity as a force for good. Mandating a quadruple helix ecosystem, living labs encourage participation of a wide group of stakeholders, as a conduit for situated knowledge collected through deep engagement with a local context. An inherent feature of the living lab is that it is place-based, which is important for generating impactful solutions for sustainable tourism. This chapter describes a case study in the Netherlands, where the world's first tourism living labs were founded in Amsterdam and Rotterdam. This contribution informs on how the Urban Leisure and Tourism labs have cultivated an environment for open innovation and impactful collaboration, where students are seen as key partners in building an ecosystem from the ground up. It offers high-level descriptions of the route to growing a suitable learning environment with public, private and community sector partners – and emphasises the importance of joint problematisation and readying a fertile ground for experimentation. The chapter shares opportunities and challenges from the embryonic, early years of the labs, and showcases some of the most impactful ideas and outputs with transformative potential, such as the BMX-routes Zuidpleinen and the Inclusive Welcome Path. It reports on overarching themes for research, including how to embed a regenerative design perspective – in order to bring about social innovation in urban tourism. Sharing critical reflections from the lived experience of leading living lab research, it reports on the complexity of collaborative design, and the difficulties of embracing uncertainty and ambiguity in education and practice. Concrete reflections on what makes or breaks an intervention are shared at the end of the chapter, and touch upon the importance of holding space, continual fresh ideas, long-term presence and frequent feedback loops. These are in opposition to getting stuck in ideation phases, lack of ownership over outcomes – which can yield resentment in the community. the book can be ordered at https://www.routledge.com/Tourism-Interventions-Making-or-Breaking-Places/Isaac-Nawijn-Farkic-Klijs/p/book/9781003449027