Welcome to CCRL
The Connected Communities Research Lab, Lancaster University Management School, brings world-class research and thought leadership to national parks and urban parks in the following areas:
Innovation – new solutions, social entrepreneurship, citizen science and the application of smart technologies and the Internet of Things
Governance – creative approaches to public policy making, business modelling, eco-innovation, systems analysis, strategic planning and knowledge management
Community Capital – effective use of parks and city green spaces, enhancing wellbeing and community resilience
Addressing tomorrow’s challenges in new ways by employing the latest approaches to inter-disciplinary and multi-method action research the Connected Communities Research Lab encourages and supports innovation in national parks, city green spaces and other protected areas.
Smart Parks study
Our Smart Parks programme supports innovation through the adoption of the latest information and communications technologies including the Internet of Things (IOT) and integration with Big Data. The results from our year-long study of national parks and the opportunities created by new IOT technologies are presented in our Smart Parks report. Click here
See below our summary video
Video to be added
The newly established Connected Communities Research Lab will extend the current programme of interdisciplinary research into the mechanisms underlying the functioning of communities of people and things. Our Smart Parks research programme is exploring the application of IOT in natural environments such as national parks and urban green spaces. The broad range of activities includes conceptual development of theoretical models, their operationalisation in multiple contexts, action research, and organisation of innovation events with developer and end-user challenges such as our recent Smart Parks Hackathon for our postgraduate students.
