The Living Summer School (LSS) is a free annual informal education program that brings together young people to lead multidisciplinary experiments in territorial innovation in response to the urgent need for swift, effective action to address socioenvironmental issues within realistic social models. The LSS is an Erasmus-certified informal training program and collaborates with a European Consortium of partners to devise its yearly curriculum. It is also a member of the New European Bauhaus’ Transformation of Places of Learning and of the LINA Architectural Platform & Community. The program is held in Kortrijk, Belgium and through collaboration with local partners, students design and implement sustainable initiatives in the urban and rural areas of Southwest Flanders with the goal of nurturing a territorial mindset as a catalyst for innovation. The program employs collaborative and experiential learning methods to promote a sense of shared responsibility. Every year, research is conducted on multifaceted social and climate challenges faced by local partners, including NGOs, policymakers, and private companies. Participants are then encouraged to work in teams to address these geography-specific challenges in collaboration with local communities and partners. The outcomes of the co-creation process are shared with local decision and policymakers.
