TY - THES A1 - Vahrenhorst, Nele Sarah T1 - How to initiate transformative research on permaculture in the Lower Rhine valley? A framework developed based on the analysis of previous experiences N2 - As climate change continues to have negative effects on agriculture, the European Commission calls for sustainable farming approaches as solutions to challenges associated with climate change and therefore propose living labs as a transformative, transdisciplinary and participatory research mode in order to enforce the resilience of farming systems. Permaculture is considered as an approach for the living lab at the Lower Rhine as it aims at integrating sustainable management practices and ethical principles to provide the framework for a holistic approach that could provide an alternative to current management practices and their negative effects on the region. The thesis at hand aims at establishing a living lab framework that allows involvement of regional stakeholders from a range of sectors in a regional network that is part of a trinity of projects that additionally include an on-site test area and a digital knowledge platform. By performing literature research and interviews with regional primary producers and experts of the field, the thesis proceeds to place the permaculture living lab in the currently available context of living lab categorizations and provides a detailed framework with step-by-step instructions to follow as well as a selection of aspects to keep in mind in order to initiate transformative research on permaculture in the form of a living lab in the Lower Rhine region. Apart from the needs of regional primary producers, existing networks and organizations relevant for the living lab are identified, as well as successfully implemented living labs in Zurich, Lisbon, Bern and New York whose objectives align at least partially with those of the future permaculture living lab that can provide experience and suggestions for the planning process. Y1 - 2023 ER -