As emerging technologies move faster than the environments available to validate them, structured spaces for testing have become essential. Addressing this need, EVOLVE2CARE joined its sister projects FINEX and APROVALS on 2 July 2026 to deliver a joint webinar on experimentation frameworks for testing innovations.
The session brought together innovators, Living Labs, researchers and policy-oriented stakeholders to examine how test beds, Living Labs and regulatory sandboxes each support the validation of new technologies, and how the three approaches connect across an innovator’s journey.
🎥 Missed the webinar or would like to revisit the discussion?
Watch the full recording here:
Experimentation Spaces and Test Beds
David Bigorra, Consultant at Cleantech Group representing FINEX, opened by defining experimentation spaces as controlled but realistic environments where innovators test new technologies before entering the market. He noted this is especially critical for hardware-intensive innovations in energy, cities and industrial processes, where full-scale testing is expensive, risky and often constrained by regulation. He presented FINEX’s four-step methodology — policy workshops, ecosystem mapping, matchmaking and pilot implementation, and learning — alongside its key outputs: a help desk serving as the entry point for guidance, a best practices report, and a resources catalogue listing more than 100 testbeds, Living Labs and sandboxes across six ecosystems. A policy roadmap and recommendations are currently in development.
Connecting Innovation with Living Labs
Anastasia Valtopoulou, Research Associate at iMedPhys, AUTH, introduced EVOLVE2CARE, a five-partner project running from October 2024 to September 2026 and built around transitional care — the safe transfer of patients between environments such as hospital, rehabilitation centre and home. The project matches innovators with certified Living Labs through the AxeLab platform, developed in collaboration with ENoLL, and provided ten vouchers of 5,000 euros to external companies. Its open call generated 44 project requests and 32 bids, resulting in 18 matched Living Labs and companies.
Despoina Petsani, Research Associate at iMedPhys, AUTH, presented the Living Labs framework, drawing on the European Network of Living Labs definition of Living Labs as open innovation ecosystems in real-life environments based on systematic user co-creation. She outlined facility types — single-sited, distributed, virtual and mobile — and three access modes: excellence-driven, market-driven and wide access. Evidence from the EVOLVE2CARE matchmaking showed expert opinion and advisory services among the most requested, alongside participant recruitment, co-creation, proof of concept and usability testing.
Setting the Stage for Regulatory Sandboxes
Alexis Biton, Head of International Affairs and APROVALS Coordinator, described APROVALS as an eight-partner project launched in September 2024 across seven countries, targeting cellular agriculture technologies. Its virtual sandbox, supported by a network hub and a policy hub, offers a governed, confidential space where innovators can de-risk development ahead of — and distinct from — any formal regulatory sandbox.
Towards a Common Pathway
The closing exchange converged on a shared agenda: demonstrating a continuous pathway from test bed to Living Lab to sandbox, and identifying the gaps between those stages. Speakers agreed to continue the discussion offline with a view to presenting joint findings.
