Enabling citizens and professionals to share power and work together in equal partnership.
Not all involvement is the same!
Co-production is working together from design to delivery. It enables citizens and professionals to share power in equal partnership, to create opportunities for people to access support when they need it and to contribute to social change.
What co-production means in practice is acknowledging that everyone is an expert in their own life, everyone has something to contribute, and that enabling people to support each other builds strong, resilient communities, strengthening the relationship between citizens and service providers. Improving the outcomes for everyone!
The Parable of the Blobs & Squares
“Co-production is a partnership where process and context have equal value, where squares and blobs need and value each other for who they are and what they can give. One is not more important or valuable than the other. It isn’t about imposing a solution on the problem; instead, it is about understanding that the solution can only lie in the problem. It is only through a process where the assets of both the squares and blobs are valued equally that great things can happen.”
It’s not just another word for engagement / consultation / collaboration.
The approach is underpinned by a set of key principles:
There is a ladder of participation from coercion to co-production.
