The Northern European Living Lab (LL NORTH) is hosted at the Natural Resources Institute Finland (Luke), operating across two sites: Luke Ruukki under the NorPeat RI and Luke Maaninka under the Agrileach RI. 

This living lab is a multidisciplinary research platform dedicated to advancing sustainable grass-based dairy and beef production in northern climates, integrating agronomy, soil science, and greenhouse gas research to support life cycle assessments and environmental impact evaluations.

The lab's mission focuses on addressing environmental challenges across the entire production chain—from primary production to consumers—through a systems-level approach that avoids partial optimizations and identifies unintended consequences of interventions. By bridging scientific disciplines and stakeholder interests, the living lab seeks to reduce agriculture's environmental footprint, particularly its impacts on atmosphere and water, while maintaining food security and productivity.

The LL NORTH engages diverse stakeholder groups including students, farmers, and researchers through on-site visits, workshops, demonstrations, and surveys, ensuring that research questions and solutions are co-created and relevant to northern agricultural contexts.

Demonstrator Labs and facilities

Food Processing Lines:

• Three main production lines for meat, milk, and bakery products.

• Additional small-scale production facilities including malting, brewing, fruit and vegetable processing, and oil pressing.

Quality and Assessment Labs:

• Essential oils extraction facilities.

• Quality assessment and sensory evaluation laboratories.

• Gastronomic laboratories for product development.

   

Support Services:

• Human nutrition consultancy.

• Short- and long-term storage facilities.

• On-site grocery for product testing and demonstration.

• Nutritional and sensory analysis services.

Demonstration Areas:

• Showcasing food labelling requirements and regulatory compliance.

• Technology demonstrations for small-scale producers.

• Logistics optimization and value chain shortening solutions.

   

This integrated approach enables the Central European Living Lab to support sustainable agricultural transitions by providing practical solutions, fostering innovation, and building collaborative networks among stakeholders across the food system.