How do we start the co-production journey?

This article was featured in the SCDC Weekly - 2nd April 2025

Whether you are working alone on a project or advocating within your organisation, the process of putting co-production into practice can often seem difficult, with many people not being sure where to start. 

In starting the journey, we firstly need to be committed to the principles of co-production, open to change and comfortable with taking some risks where outcomes and associated successes are not always guaranteed.

Starting out, we can think about a series of key steps, including truly understanding co-production, determining who needs to be involved, and building skills and knowledge so everyone can participate.

It's also key to consider monitoring and evaluation at the very beginning of the co-production process so we can celebrate ongoing successes, and make changes and improvements as needed.

Every journey of co-production, even if not successful, will produce learning points that will allow us to develop better more inclusive practices in the future.

Want to find out more? Read the Co-production Guide and explore all aspects of applying co-pro in your work.

 
 
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