The Special Issue addresses the lack of conceptualization and rigorous analysis of the paradigmatic foundations and practical frameworks of living labs. Unlike other publications on living labs, the Special Issue is not bound to a particular area of application but rather focuses on the communication and interaction happening there. It is interested in contributions that examine the ways, living labs are constructed and operated so to fulfil the promise of an open, active, and innovative science engagement. Papers are welcome that query the underlying theories and normative assumptions of living labs, for instance regarding the varying notions of what makes for a “productive” participation and “good” participants; it also involves thinking about other factors such a trust, agency, and expertise that come to bear upon the living lab experience. We too invite papers that present and discuss methods for studying living labs and what kinds of insights they help to generate. The Special Issue should also provide a space to interrogate the key moments in the life cycle of living labs like the definition of problems and possible solutions, the identification of stakeholders and their needs, or the organization of their temporal order and social responsibilities. It also open to papers that take a comparative look on living labs in different scientific or societal contexts. Read full SI here.