The importance of sustainable co-creation: better (co-)living in cities and neighbourhoods

Co-creation

Co-creation with residents is how ideas on participation were turned into reality in Middelland. Residents and community-based initiatives were given the space they needed, and the municipality facilitated them. Van Meerkerk: 'It fits the trend of involving citizens in complex public issues. Citizens increasingly experience less connection with existing institutions, while they are more assertive and increasingly able to organize their own initiatives. Governments also have an interest in this. For example, suppose citizens do not put solar panels on their roofs or are unwilling or unable to make their homes more sustainable. In that case, the energy transition will proceed more slowly.'

Neighbourhood workers as boundary spanners

Neighbourhood managers and other neighborhood workers proved to be an essential link for the success of the co-creation experiment in Middelland. They are people who are employed by the municipality but who are also loyal to the residents and partners in the neighbourhood. Van Meerkerk: Boundary spanners, we call them.' Actually, they are the eyes and ears of the municipality because they get to know all perspectives. Van Meerkerk: 'By listening carefully to residents and responding to initiatives from the neighbourhood, the programme's starting point was broadened, and it became much more about improving the quality of life for residents. That may sound very logical, but from the municipal approach, the initial focus was on safety and reducing social shelters for drug addicts and homeless people. Now residents and the municipality have created a much broader and more positive plan. In terms of implementation, the municipality invested significantly. That created a commitment from many residents that lasted a long time.'

Successful results

This year, the programme formally ends. 'Perhaps the most important lesson is that co-creation must be taken very seriously. And that it requires good embedding within the municipal organisation. You can achieve a lot this way, and public money becomes more valuable because of the broader ownership that is created.' One of the results is Huize Middelland. This is a House of the Neighbourhood but spread over fourteen places in the neighbourhood. Thirteen different resident groups organise services and projects around education, sports, art, culture and greenery. Residents can go to the various places with questions, work in the neighbourhood with other residents or organise activities. Social entrepreneurs, residents and entrepreneurs from the neighbourhood participate. Van Meerkerk: 'There is, for example, a textile worker who values sustainability. By cooperating with schools in the neighbourhood, it is simultaneously a project about education, sustainability and creativity. Because of the links between different initiatives, cross-pollination and strong networks are created in the neighbourhood. We can say that through the programme Mooi Mooier Middelland, the networks have become stronger and the resilience of the neighbourhood has increased.'

Risk

'Now that the programme is almost over, we do see that the sustainability of the collaboration between the municipality and residents is under pressure,' says Van Meerkerk. 'How do you embed this kind of collaboration in a municipal organisation where different departments have to implement their own programmes, with their own time plans and budgets? And how do you ensure continuity? 'Officials think they will have to deal with many different residents and discontinuity, but in practice, it is often the other way round: residents actually see many officials come and go.' In addition, all groups' perspectives are different: officials conclude the programme, and residents also think about the time after, namely the time they live there. 'This easily creates divergent expectations. Therefore, we advise making co-creation more structural and continue to work with residents at the start. We think the boundary spanning agents, the eyes and ears of the municipality, can continue to play an important role here. We are currently following a number of them with diary studies and reflection interviews and advise them and their home-organization. With the knowledge and insights this provides, we are taking the theory on this further and also making specific impact in a neighbourhood or district.'

Master Urban Governance

'You can also see the importance of societal impact in the master's in Urban Governance,' Van Meerkerk observes. That deals with the question of what role cities play in finding answers to major societal issues such as climate change, poverty, inclusiveness, health, unemployment, housing and a just energy transition.'

Cities are drivers of innovation because they are home to many people with diverse interests, knowledge and resources in a limited area, making problems visible earlier on the one hand but creating innovative approaches on the other. 'Only sustainable policies and governance approaches can create a healthy, equitable and inclusive living environment where it is pleasant to live. This master educates and trains competent urban managers by offering them organisational knowledge and skills on urban policy, combined with economic insights, urban planning, sociology and urban management.' Students design their own vision based on literature and practice. In the Urban Governance Lab, they also spend much of the year developing skills such as cooperation, advising, project management and network analysis. Van Meerkerk: 'At the end of the master, they will examine a specific urban case and advise responsible project managers and administrators. This combination of theory and practice, of literature study and developing personal competencies, is highly appreciated by students. They develop the knowledge and skills to make well-founded and supported visions and convert them into sustainable policies and strategies. 'They can really start making an impact.'