By Dr Chong Yong Yee

Sport becomes social infrastructure when it gives people safe places to move, to meet and to belong.

In Malaysia, that means designing for heat and haze, varied work hours combined with traffic congestion, dense PPRs (people’s housing programmes) and kampung lanes, and facilities that welcome women, older adults and persons with disabilities.

Because these realities are every-day and intertwined, the way we solve them must be practical and close to the ground.

Living lab is a real-world setting where the people who use a service, the people who run it, and the people who study it work side by side to try ideas, see what changes, and keep improving.

Proven model

This approach follows a proven model in recent research: co-create in everyday environments, test and refine in small steps, and make decisions under shared rules so the work can last beyond pilot projects [1]. With that foundation, the concept moves neatly from theory to daily practice.

Universities are a strong place to start because they already bring people together. Campus halls, padang, courts, and tracks are staffed and safe, and they sit next to medical, engineering and data expertise.

Ethics committees protect participants. Student interns and volunteers add capacity. Most importantly, universities can measure what happens, write it up clearly, and share simple guides that schools, councils and clubs can copy.

This turns a campus into a useful living lab that serves nearby neighbourhood communities.

With mutual understanding, a sport living lab can proceed with well-defined steps.

Access to Play comes first and fixes practical barriers: equipment libraries at campuses or community halls, transport support to evening sessions when the heat eases, schedules that respect caregiving and prayer times, and safer spaces with better lighting and clear sightlines.

These are small adjustments that open the door for groups who are usually left out, and they make the next steps possible.

With access improved, Climate-Smart Sport keeps play safe and consistent. Shade, water and rest are treated as standard, not extras.

Simple heat and air-quality rules tell coaches when to shorten or pause sessions. Refill points and reusable bottles cut event waste.

These measures fit our tropical reality and build trust with parents and participants. They also set a platform for growth rather than cancellation.

Building people power

Once sessions are accessible and safe, a Community Coach Academy builds people power.

Short, stackable badges in inclusive coaching, basic injury prevention, and programme evaluation help volunteers become confident local coaches.

This creates paid pathways for youth leaders, women coaches and para-sport facilitators, and it links student learning with community needs. With capable coaches in place, inclusion becomes routine instead of exceptional.

Programme choices should feel Malaysian. Pickleball is a strong example because it is low-cost, low-impact, and easy to learn.

Lines can be added to badminton or futsal courts, which makes it ideal for older adults and a friendly entry point for women who prefer smaller courts and social formats.

Morning tai chi on shaded pads, evening walking football on school fields, and women-only coaching hours in multipurpose halls widen participation without large new builds.

Local councils can prioritise shade trees and canopies near surau and community hubs, while telcos and media can support heat and haze messages in Bahasa Malaysia, Tamil and Chinese.

Each choice ties the lab back to daily Malaysian life and shows how simple tweaks can have big reach. Clear measurement keeps everyone honest and learning.

Tracking participation

In practice, this means tracking participation among low-income youth, women and girls, older adults, and persons with disabilities; monitoring how consistently sessions follow heat and haze rules; tallying how many community coaches are trained and active; and recording both event waste and how people travel-by car, on foot, by bicycle or by public transport.

Each year, an impact brief and a set of practical toolkits – for example, an Access and Inclusion Standard, Climate-Safe Sport Rules, and a Pickleball Setup and Safety Guide, making it easy for others to repeat what works.

Funding can follow the same common-sense logic. Corporate CSR, foundations and local councils can support pilots with a mix of cash and useful in-kind help: equipment, shade structures, transport credits, and data for safety alerts.

In return, partners get plain-language standards, transparent dashboards, and stories grounded in real communities. Because changes are practical and shared, public funds do not need to be the first option.

A phased path keeps the work manageable and credible. The initiative starts with a limited number of pilot locations – one being a campus, a community cluster in the Klang Valley, and the other situated in a secondary city, where the three foundational elements are integrated, and the outcomes are documented.

Programming aligns with school calendars and council maintenance cycles, sessions are scheduled for cooler hours, and women-only and older-adult slots are included.

Decision-making remains clear through a steering group that brings together community, council, industry and university voices, creating momentum without over-promising.

The gains are social as well as sporting. Safer, climate-ready sessions rebuild trust. Women-friendly formats and spaces improve retention.

Older adults gain strength and connection at low cost. Trained local coaches become steady anchors for youth and neighbourhood life.

Taken together, these outcomes show why a living lab matters in Malaysia: it handles the nuances and complexity of daily life and turns small, well-tested changes into sustainable benefits.

-- BERNAMA

Reference
[1] Moustakas, L. et al., “Keeping It Real: Insights from a Sport-Based Living Lab,” Societies, 2024, 14(6):93.

Dr Chong Yong Yee is a senior lecturer at the Faculty of Sports and Exercise Science, Universiti Malaya.