Co-Engage kick off – starting the co-creation in Berlin

The idea of Co-engage was born in the heads of a team, that was working from offices in different European countries. This, on its own, gives a good example of co-creation and its potential. Co-Engage is built on the conviction, that teaching participation through co-creation will contribute to the empowerment of activated citizens and social innovators.

A few months after the project application was written, submitted and approved, the partners from 8 countries met in Berlin at the end of 2018, for a kick-off meeting. Following the topic of Co-Engage, the host, CRN, facilitated the meeting using various interactive approaches, including design thinking. Design thinking by nature is a co-creative process, therefore, it was a good practical example in action. 

The overall aim of Co-Engage is to identify the main areas, where co-creation can contribute to supporting citizens in becoming active innovators in their social realm.

As one of the results required to reach the project goals is the elaboration of 80 smart practices on co-creation, the partners started working on a commonly approved evaluation grid. 

In order to start creating the grid, we identified the user. For whom are we creating it? Who’s going to benefit? After a quick brainstorming, we defined a user as an organization, that needs to evaluate their co-creative potential. Following that, in the spirit of co-creation, the partners started prototyping the evaluation grid on the spot, working in small mixed teams. 

The consortium partners also discussed how they understand the concepts of participation and engagement, as well as how these two relate or differ (the key results are presented in the word clouds).

Partners wrapped up by agreeing on administrative and project management issues, as well as steps to be taken before the next meeting in Porto.