SWICE Newsletter

September 2025

Dear SWICE community,

In today's newsletter, we watch as a community brunch kicks off a Living Lab in Lokstadt, discover how to classify neighbourhoods, and learn to stay cool with the anti-heatwave activities of our Outdoor Comfort Living Labs.

Have a great day,

The SWICE Management Team

A video to understand Living Lab Lokstadt

Our Living Lab Lokstadt is a test hub for sustainable lifestyles. Together with residents, industry partners, cooperatives and administration, the L5 project tests and deploys innovative ideas for better living using fewer resources.

In May, SWICE WP1 researchers kicked off the Living Lab Lokstadt with a brunch and treasure hunt where all local inhabitants gathered. It was an opportunity to bring the community together and introduce them to the project.

The research will focus on sustainability behaviours including housing, food and mobility. Participants will be provided with feedback on their lifestyle and tailored tips through the SWICE app.

👉 Link to the video (DE audio, DE/EN subtitles)

Learning to stay cool in La Jonction

As heatwaves increase in frequency and severity, SWICE WP5 is focused on two important questions: how do we transform the outdoors and change our habits to adapt to hotter summers? Can we do so in a way that prioritizes wellbeing, and using a using a low-tech, sufficiency-first approach? In Geneva, a team of social scientists led by Marlyne Sahakian has been busy all summer attempting to provide much-needed answers.

👉 Link to the full article

From heat island to cool archipelago:
A square is transformed in Fribourg

The Fribourg team of SWICE WP5 has also had a busy summer. The team led by Séréna Vanbustele conducted a two-week intervention in a square in Schoenberg where temperatures on some surfaces can reach 70°C in the middle of summer. The team worked closely with local associations and inhabitants to build a temporary terrace that provides shading and a place to sit down.

👉 Link to the full article

Research corner

Assessing processes and results of living labs: towards a general framework

Julien Forbat, Marlyne Sahakian, Jasmin Annaheim and Anton Sentic

This paper uncovers how different Living Labs (LLs) are assessed. The authors argue in favor of using Theory of Change (ToC), which distinguishes between short-, medium-, and long-term objectives, allowing stakeholders to pursue objectives at different scales and time horizons. They build on ToC to propose a framework for assessing LLs.

A multidomain approach to neighbourhood typology for urban environmental studies

Kun Lyu, Dusan Licina, Jan Wienold, Hanieh Khodaei Tehrani and Dolaana Khovalyg

This study proposes a method for classifying neighbourhoods that accounts for their disctinctive multidomain environmental characteristics. The method uses a data-driven approach based on parameters describing urban morphology, land cover, and road network. It supports research on effective mitigation strategies and serves as a framework for context-specific implementations of mitigation measures.

SWICE at the SWEET Conference

Last week’s SWEET Conference was an opportunity for our SWICE coordinator Philippe Thalmann and Urbaplan Associate Director Igor Andersen to present key research results and how a close collaboration between academics and cooperation partners is mutually beneficial.

Key take-aways:

✅ Climate policy must take overconsumption into account, by setting limits to resource use, promoting equity and prioritizing well-being.

✅ Sufficiency measures (shared spaces, limiting urban sprawl) can orient housing policies towards climate neutral and socially inclusive outcomes.

✅ Cooperation partners benefit from (sometimes counter-intuitive) research outcomes, which should be used to improve professional practices.

Thanks to the SWEET Office for putting together such a great event!

What's next?

03-05.09.25 | CISBAT 2025 @EPFL
10-14.11.25 | Energy Week @ETH

Hey! Thanks for reading all the way to here. As a bonus, you can 🔍 look for the SWICE logos hiding in our Living Labs. Let me know if you find them all :)

Any thoughts about this newsletter, or our communication in general? Send your feedback to joan.suris@epfl.ch.

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