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Live Labs 2 is a three-year, £30million, UK-wide programme funded by the Department for Transport.
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The programme runs until March 2026, with a five-year subsequent, extended monitoring and evaluation period.
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Live Labs 2 has a laser sharp focus on decarbonising all aspects of local highways infrastructure and supporting assets from fence to fence, from city to rural, across the whole lifecycle covering new build, upgrades, operation, maintenance through to decommissioning.
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Seven projects, grouped by four interconnected themes, are being led by ambitious local highways authorities working alongside commercial and academic partners.
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The projects cover a range of topics, including materials, integrating roadworks with the circular economy, using highways authorities’ land to help mitigate against climate change, creating a centre of excellence and decarbonising road lighting. You can find out more about each Live Lab here.
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The transport sector is the largest emitting sector, responsible for nearly a quarter of greenhouse gas emissions (Transport and environment statistics 2022), so finding more sustainable ways to work is vital. More than £2 billion per year is spent on local highways maintenance, but that funding isn’t yet linked to the need to achieve net zero.
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Live Labs 2 is not about vehicles or how the public choose to travel. It’s about how we can design and maintain roads and related infrastructure in ways which are better for the planet.
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The first Live Labs programme which concluded in 2021, concentrated on the development of new SMART approaches across communications, materials, energy solutions, mobility and environment.
For more information, please visit the Live Labs 2 homepage.