SafeNet Presentation Wins Innovation Award at Leading Living Lab Conference

We are proud to share that Bence Lukács, researcher in ecological economics at ESSRG, represented SafeNet at the Open Living Lab Days conference in Andorra la Vella (30 September to 03 October 2025), organised by the European Network of Living Labs (ENoLL) and came home with the Best Innovation Presentation award!

Bence’s talk, Co-create forest management and policy solutions: Living Labs in the SafeNet project, was part of the Top Contributions session in the Research Track. His presentation stood out among around 50 research talks and was recognised for its originality, clarity, and relevance to the Living Lab community.

The presentation, co-developed with Eszter Kelemen, introduced SafeNet’s Living Lab approach to forest governance. It explained how the project is embedding Living Labs in four forest biomes across Europe and establishing a pan-European Policy Lab. Bence highlighted the role of stakeholder engagement in shaping inclusive, evidence-based solutions that link policy goals with real-world forest management.

Reflecting on the event, Bence shared:
“This is the largest international event where the Living Lab methodology is at the core. It was a great opportunity to share our work and connect with other projects. I found many interesting links and synergies between SafeNet and other initiatives.”

The conference theme, Living Labs for Regenerative Futures: Connecting Local and Global Innovation Ecosystems, brought together experts from across Europe and beyond. Topics ranged from stakeholder engagement and evaluation methods to AI applications and thematic workshops on energy transition and soil regeneration.

Bence’s award is a fantastic recognition of his work and a great moment for SafeNet.

Congratulations to Bence for representing the project so brilliantly!