Universities are anchor institutions, nurturing knowledge and innovation ecosystems within their regions. University campuses can be understood as complex urban realms where spatial planning, governance and everyday practices converge. Within this context, living labs provide a mechanism for building collaborations among stakeholders and enabling real-world experimentation across disciplinary and sectoral boundaries. Grounded in the quadruple helix, living labs align with the fourth-generation university, which emphasises societal transformation, place-based innovation and cross-sector partnerships.

This paper draws on two datasets:(1) a series of workshops conducted with 28 members of staff at Cardiff University to investigate drivers and barriers to embedding living labs in research culture (2) case studies drawing on first-hand experiences of initiating and sustaining living labs at Cardiff University as part of education (design studios in planning and architecture), and business operations (the Ecosystem Resilience and Biodiversity Action Plan (ERBAP) to enhance campus biodiversity, and the Anti-Racist Living Lab to embed inclusivity). The findings from the above datasets illustrate the potential of living labs as a form of experiential and interdisciplinary learning for everyone involved, and the challenges around funding, timescales and creating shared understanding of living labs. Most importantly, living labs offer a renewed sense of agency for staff, students, and external partners to actively learn together for urban change. We argue that living labs function as a transformative pedagogical framework of social learning, fostering collaboration and real-world engagement, while requiring deeper embedding within institutional structures and cultures to realise their potential for systemic change.

This paper explores the scope for innovative planning pedagogies in a time of increasing awareness about the need for co-creation in planning practices and in generating planning knowledge. It draws on the example of a public consultation event devised by masters planning students, teaching staff and city council planning staff. The consultation related to a proposed urban regeneration plan beside the location of two secondary schools. Although wide-ranging public consultation had taken place, the voices of the secondary school pupils had not been forthcoming. The consultation project with masters’ students was designed as a combination of consultation and collaboration involving the masters’ students and secondary school pupils in critiquing the existing regeneration proposals, and examining potential alternative visions for the area in question. A key element of the exercise was the masters’ students seeking structured feedback from the secondary school pupils on whether and how the engagement process had made a difference for them, and the value of the subsequent reflective process for the masters students that it gave rise to.

The paper highlights the value of experiential learning in a real-world context, where planning students are involved in real planning projects alongside professional planners. It discusses the value of structured forms of feedback and reflection on the process, in this case, through seeking feedback on the quality of the public engagement process. It also discusses the use of a skills framework that supports teaching staff and students to assess students’ progress in reaching a range of essential planning competencies as part of their professional development as planners.

As the UK planning system shifts towards statutory climate mandates—including mandatory biodiversity net gain, nutrient neutrality, and low-carbon building metrics—the role of the planning practitioner has fundamentally transformed. Planners are increasingly required to act as technical orchestrators of complex socio-ecological systems. However, a systemic gap remains between rapidly evolving statutory expectations and the traditional competencies embedded within professional planning education. This paper addresses this deficit by exploring how higher education institutions can re-engineer postgraduate curricula to build resilient, future-proof professional capacity.

Drawing on the pedagogical framework of the Urban Planning and Resilience postgraduate program at the University of Kent, this study evaluates curriculum strategies that bridge the gap between spatial planning theory, urban morphology, and nature-based solutions. It critiques traditional, siloed teaching models and proposes an integrated framework. This approach blends macro-level global planning case studies with localised technical workshops focusing on microclimatic impacts, statutory legislative contexts, and environmental sustainability standards.

The paper argues that tackling the UK’s planning capacity crisis requires more than increasing graduate numbers; it demands a fundamental shift in the technical, systemic, and ecological literacy of those graduates. By aligning academic training with the cross-cutting demands of modern green infrastructure delivery, higher education can empower the next generation of planners to lead on climate adaptation. Ultimately, this study directly addresses the conference theme 'Building Planning Up' by positioning progressive pedagogy as the structural foundation for resilient planning practice.