Universities are equipped with various types of laboratories, supporting different levels of controlled environments to test hypotheses and develop knowledge in different fundamental and applied disciplines. In a transdisciplinary environment, it is important to also have a laboratory where it is possible to maintain a systemic and broad perspective when hypotheses are tested. In a Reality Lab, the challenge is controlled while the real-life variables are not.
AUA has a mission to enable the faculty and next generation of students to grow prosperity in Armenia in balance with social, ecological, and economic needs. It is fundamental that participating collaborators in a Reality Lab develop an understanding of the importance of capturing the collaborators’ different perspectives on the same complex problem. As a result, Reality Labs give people (faculty, students, and all stakeholders) a space where knowledge and skills from different backgrounds join forces to address a specific problem. Solutions to the complex problems are found at the intersection of these different perspectives, where everyone listens to one another and finds novel, transformative, and resilient solutions together.
AUA Open Education supports the development of public-private partnerships in the provinces (marzer) and subsequently the identification of complex challenges for collaboration in Reality Labs. The Global-Local Office supports the Open Centers of Excellence with opportunities and tools to enable the Reality Labs to become creative and attractive meeting places for students, faculty, and the community (university-public-private partnership).
AUA has three Reality Labs currently under development. You can click on them to see the activities within each.