Living Lab Lokstadt

– LANGFRISTIG LEBENSWERT –

A test hub for sustainable lifestyles in Winterthur. Coordinated by the ZHAW together with residents, industry partners, cooperatives, administration and universities.

How difficult would it be to steer a cargo bike filled with groceries? Or what would it be like if you could see which household appliance is currently consuming the most electricity?

Even when the first layout of the Lokstadt houses were designed, it was clear that this neighbourhood would set new standards and be a testing ground for sustainable lifestyles. After all, why discuss possible improvements for the environment and well-being in a secluded office when you can discuss and test them directly with the residents of a lively urban district?

This Living Lab Lokstadt is a test hub for the residents of the neighbourhood to find viable ways of living sustainability in a neighbourhood in the long term.

News

Workshop extended steering group
(July 07, 2025)

…more

Launch event of the Living Lab
(May 25, 2025)

…more

Survey on lifestyles
(from May 22, 2025)

…more

Evening of planning and creativity
(January 15, 2025)

…more

more news

On May 17, 2025, the time has come – we are launching the Living Lab Lokstadt!

To kick things off, we are organizing a scavenger hunt through the various buildings at Lokstadt. Participants can take a look behind the scenes of BigBoy, Krokodil, Tender etc., master challenges at various stations and find out what’s behind the Living Lab Lokstadt. At the same time, the residents can get to know each other better and spend an exciting afternoon in the neighbourhood. To plan this, we will meet on January 17, 2025.

Would you like to help organize this event in your neighbourhood? Do you like to be creative, do all sorts of ideas come to mind when you hear Lokstadt scavenger hunt or do you know someone who knows someone who … you know …

Then get in touch with us!

The time has come in mid-May 2025 – we are launching the Living Lab Lokstadt!

To kick off the event, we are organizing a scavenger hunt through the various buildings at Lokstadt. Participants can take a look behind the scenes at BigBoy, Krokodil, Tender etc., master challenges at various stations and find out what’s behind the Living Lab Lokstadt. At the same time, the residents can get to know each other better and spend an exciting afternoon in the neighbourhood. To plan this, we met with the residents of Lokstadt on January 15, 2025.

Would you also like to help organize this event in your neighbourhood? Do you like to be creative, do all kinds of ideas come to mind when you hear Lokstadt scavenger hunt or do you know someone who knows someone who … you know …

Then get in touch with us!

Workshop extended steering group

The first results of the mobility visualization and lifestyle survey were presented at the Living Lab Lokstadt meeting.

A key topic was the promotion of pedestrian and bicycle traffic. We discussed ideas such as colored path markings, better signaling for greater safety and creative greening. Specific problems, such as night-time car traffic at Migros Teo, were also addressed. This would require discussions with the city, where the LL could establish contact.

Campaigns such as bike test weeks, a joint bike day or a bike check were proposed to motivate people to use sustainable mobility. The idea of a local bike workshop also came up. These are to be pursued further in spring 2026.

Another concern: many people are not familiar with the Lokstadt mobility concept. A flyer with local offers and sustainable mobility alternatives is in the planning. We will be looking for helpers after the summer vacation. If you would like to get involved, please contact livinglab.lokstadt@zhaw.ch.

Sending the lifestyle survey

Before we started our first project, we asked the residents about their needs, activities and opinions on the topic of sustainability in order to get an idea of the various aspects of sustainability in the residents’ everyday lives. Click here to find out more about the different lifestyles.

Successful start at Living Lab Lokstadt

Last Sunday, the big neighbourhood brunch took place at Lokstadt. The atmosphere was fantastic! Despite the occasional rain, the neighbourhood put their heart and soul into setting the 50-meter-long table: they baked, cooked, decorated, ground the finest coffee (thanks to B51!) and served the best Prosecco (thanks to Delinat!). The brunch tavolata was really something to be proud of.

After the brunch, the Living Lab Lokstadt campaign kicked off with a diverse scavenger hunt through the neighbourhood. Participants had the chance to find out more about the Living Lab Lokstadt and register to take part in the current exciting campaigns. Young and old alike were able to get creative in Christa Rogger’s studio and design their own linoleum prints. On the roof terrace, Rudolf Stadelmann gave exciting insights into the history of Lokstadt and Lorena Rechsteiner challenged participants to put their CargoVelo skills to the test. For the little adventurers, there was a sweat-inducing handicraft course, lovingly designed by Lilo Kasser together with Gusto d’Oro. Anyone who needed to mend an item of clothing or was looking for fashion inspiration could visit the PILA fashion manufactory.

We from the ZHAW were able to have many enriching conversations with the residents of the neighbourhood on this day. Together, we discussed the future of Lokstadt – about well-being, sustainable mobility and the use of energy. It’s great to see how much commitment and interest can be felt here on site.

A big thank you goes to the Stadtlokt Kollektiv for the great organization of this day and the Quartierverein Brühlberg-Tössfeld for their support – without your commitment this special start to the Living Lab Lokstadt would not have been possible!

We would like to thank everyone who attended and look forward to many more exciting encounters in the Living Lab Lokstadt!