diff --git a/codelabs/bigquery-alloydb-insights/scripts/setenv.sh b/codelabs/bigquery-alloydb-insights/scripts/setenv.sh
index e1d9523f..ee38cf7b 100755
--- a/codelabs/bigquery-alloydb-insights/scripts/setenv.sh
+++ b/codelabs/bigquery-alloydb-insights/scripts/setenv.sh
@@ -24,9 +24,16 @@ if [ -f "$ENV_FILE" ]; then
         [[ "$line" =~ ^[[:space:]]*# || -z "$line" ]] && continue
         export "$line"
     done < "$ENV_FILE"
+    # Validate that the critical variables were actually found in the .env file
+    if [ -z "${PROJECT_ID:-}" ] || [ -z "${REGION:-}" ]; then
+        echo "⚠️  Warning: .env was loaded, but is missing PROJECT_ID or REGION."
+        echo "   Please re-run scripts/setup_lab.sh to configure your environment."
+        return 1 2>/dev/null || exit 1
+    fi
     echo "✅ Environment loaded successfully: PROJECT_ID=$PROJECT_ID, REGION=$REGION"
 else
     echo "❌ Error: .env file not found at $ENV_FILE"
     echo "   Please execute scripts/setup_lab.sh first to configure your environment."
     return 1 2>/dev/null || exit 1
 fi
+
diff --git a/codelabs/bigquery-alloydb-insights/scripts/setup_alloydb.sh b/codelabs/bigquery-alloydb-insights/scripts/setup_alloydb.sh
index 5f81b773..96fae3c2 100644
--- a/codelabs/bigquery-alloydb-insights/scripts/setup_alloydb.sh
+++ b/codelabs/bigquery-alloydb-insights/scripts/setup_alloydb.sh
@@ -28,7 +28,13 @@ fi
 export CLUSTER_NAME="lost-cargo-cluster"
 export INSTANCE_NAME="lost-cargo-instance"
 export PROJECT_ID="${PROJECT_ID:-$(gcloud config get-value project 2>/dev/null)}"
-export REGION="${REGION:-us-central1}"
+if [ -z "$REGION" ]; then
+    echo -e "\033[1;33m⚠️  REGION environment variable is not set.\033[0m"
+    while [ -z "$REGION" ]; do
+        read -p "Please explicitly enter your assigned Google Cloud region (e.g., us-central1, europe-west1): " REGION
+    done
+fi
+export REGION
 
 # Check for valid Project ID
 if [[ -z "$PROJECT_ID" ]]; then
@@ -97,7 +103,7 @@ echo "[1/4] Starting AlloyDB deployment (this takes ~10 minutes)..."
   else
       echo "PSA Peering exists. Checking if range $PSA_RANGE_NAME is included..."
       EXISTING_RANGES=$(echo "$PEERING_INFO" | python3 -c "import sys, json; data=json.load(sys.stdin); print(','.join(data[0]['reservedPeeringRanges'])) if data else print('')")
-
+      
       if [[ $EXISTING_RANGES != *"$PSA_RANGE_NAME"* ]]; then
           echo "Range $PSA_RANGE_NAME not in peering. Current ranges: $EXISTING_RANGES"
           echo "Updating connection..."
@@ -144,7 +150,7 @@ echo "[1/4] Starting AlloyDB deployment (this takes ~10 minutes)..."
               --password=$PASSWORD \
               --subscription-type=STANDARD \
               --quiet
-
+          
           if [ $? -ne 0 ]; then
               echo "Error: Failed to create AlloyDB cluster."
               exit 1
@@ -229,13 +235,13 @@ echo "[4/4] Configuring IAM permissions for AlloyDB..."
 PROJECT_NUMBER=$(gcloud projects describe "${PROJECT_ID}" --format="value(projectNumber)" 2>/dev/null || echo "")
 if [[ -n "$PROJECT_NUMBER" ]]; then
   ALLOYDB_SERVICE_AGENT="service-${PROJECT_NUMBER}@gcp-sa-alloydb.iam.gserviceaccount.com"
-
+  
   echo "      Granting Vertex AI access to AlloyDB Service Agent..."
   gcloud projects add-iam-policy-binding "${PROJECT_ID}" --format=none \
     --member="serviceAccount:${ALLOYDB_SERVICE_AGENT}" \
     --role="roles/aiplatform.user" \
     --quiet || echo "⚠️ Warning: Failed to grant Vertex AI User role to AlloyDB Service Agent."
-
+    
   echo "      Granting GCS access to AlloyDB Service Agent..."
   gcloud projects add-iam-policy-binding "${PROJECT_ID}" --format=none \
     --member="serviceAccount:${ALLOYDB_SERVICE_AGENT}" \
@@ -254,7 +260,7 @@ if [[ -n "$ALLOYDB_SA" ]]; then
     --member="serviceAccount:${ALLOYDB_SA}" \
     --role="roles/aiplatform.user" \
     --quiet || echo "⚠️ Warning: Failed to grant Vertex AI User role to cluster-specific service account."
-
+    
   echo "      Granting GCS access to cluster-specific service account..."
   gcloud projects add-iam-policy-binding "${PROJECT_ID}" --format=none \
     --member="serviceAccount:${ALLOYDB_SA}" \
@@ -273,3 +279,4 @@ echo ""
 echo " Connect via AlloyDB Studio in the Cloud Console:"
 echo " AlloyDB → Clusters → ${CLUSTER_NAME} → AlloyDB Studio"
 echo "=============================================="
+
diff --git a/codelabs/bigquery-alloydb-insights/scripts/setup_lab.sh b/codelabs/bigquery-alloydb-insights/scripts/setup_lab.sh
index d840fc9f..d27a9c71 100644
--- a/codelabs/bigquery-alloydb-insights/scripts/setup_lab.sh
+++ b/codelabs/bigquery-alloydb-insights/scripts/setup_lab.sh
@@ -33,7 +33,12 @@ if [[ -z "$PROJECT_ID" ]]; then
 fi
 
 # Determine Region
-REGION="${REGION:-us-central1}"
+if [ -z "${REGION:-}" ]; then
+    echo -e "\033[1;33m⚠️  REGION environment variable is not set.\033[0m"
+    while [ -z "${REGION:-}" ]; do
+        read -p "Please explicitly enter your assigned Google Cloud region (e.g., us-central1, europe-west1): " REGION
+    done
+fi
 
 # Save to .env file
 echo "Writing environment variables to $ENV_FILE..."
@@ -103,7 +108,7 @@ echo ""
 # [2/8] Create BigQuery dataset
 # ---------------------------------------------------------------
 echo "[2/8] Creating BigQuery dataset 'lost_cargo_dataset'..."
-bq --location="$REGION" mk --dataset "$PROJECT_ID:lost_cargo_dataset" 2>/dev/null || true
+bq --location=$REGION mk --dataset "$PROJECT_ID:lost_cargo_dataset" 2>/dev/null || true
 echo "      Done."
 
 # ---------------------------------------------------------------
@@ -112,7 +117,7 @@ echo "      Done."
 echo "[3/8] Creating Cloud Resource connection and granting permissions..."
 bq mk --connection --location=$REGION --connection_type=CLOUD_RESOURCE lost_cargo_conn 2>/dev/null || true
 
-SA_EMAIL=$(bq show --format=prettyjson --connection $REGION.lost_cargo_conn \
+SA_EMAIL=$(bq show --format=prettyjson --connection ${REGION}.lost_cargo_conn \
   | grep "serviceAccountId" | cut -d '"' -f 4)
 echo "      Connection service account: $SA_EMAIL"
 
@@ -147,7 +152,7 @@ curl -s -X POST \
   }' > /dev/null || true
 
 # Grant the connection's service account access to AlloyDB
-SA_EMAIL_ALLOYDB=$(bq show --format=prettyjson --connection "$REGION.lost_cargo_alloydb_conn" | grep "serviceAccountId" | cut -d '"' -f 4)
+SA_EMAIL_ALLOYDB=$(bq show --format=prettyjson --connection ${REGION}.lost_cargo_alloydb_conn | grep "serviceAccountId" | cut -d '"' -f 4)
 if [[ -n "$SA_EMAIL_ALLOYDB" ]]; then
   grant_iam_role_with_retry "$PROJECT_ID" "serviceAccount:$SA_EMAIL_ALLOYDB" "roles/alloydb.client"
 fi
@@ -161,7 +166,7 @@ if gcloud storage buckets describe "$BUCKET" &>/dev/null; then
     echo "      Bucket already exists: $BUCKET"
 else
     echo "      Creating bucket $BUCKET..."
-    gcloud storage buckets create "$BUCKET" --location="$REGION"
+    gcloud storage buckets create "$BUCKET" --location=$REGION
 fi
 
 echo "      Copying images from central bucket..."
@@ -223,8 +228,8 @@ echo "============================================"
 echo ""
 echo " Created resources:"
 echo "   - BigQuery dataset:    lost_cargo_dataset"
-echo "   - BQ connection:       $REGION.lost_cargo_conn (Cloud Resource)"
-echo "   - BQ connection:       $REGION.lost_cargo_alloydb_conn (AlloyDB)"
+echo "   - BQ connection:       ${REGION}.lost_cargo_conn (Cloud Resource)"
+echo "   - BQ connection:       ${REGION}.lost_cargo_alloydb_conn (AlloyDB)"
 echo "   - GCS bucket:          $BUCKET"
 echo "     - images/:           Port security images"
 echo "     - data/:             Telemetry data"
@@ -236,3 +241,4 @@ echo " Next: Return to the codelab and continue with"
 echo "       setting up the Data Agent Kit."
 echo ""
 
+