The ultimate goal is to give citizens (and other stakeholders) a serious role in the development of new services in the field of work and income. It will be considered successful when mutual understanding between the parties has developed, prejudices have reduced, and all stakeholders (jobseekers, employers and other parties) have participated in the co-creation experiments. Although paid work is the main goal for some, the pilot also recognises the value of caring and volunteering.
The pilot therefore aimed to use co-creation as a means to increase the chances of creating a sustainable and successful match between the employer and the job seeker.
More specific objectives:
- Create a learning environment for users, professionals, civil servants, and other stakeholders, in order to create room for innovation including innovative behaviour and to determine what professional development is needed.
- Strengthen the communities of unemployed citizens as service users and engage them in the pilot (especially by using narratives to influence services).
- Identify participation criteria for the new social services.
- Identify where and how the present system obstructs our goal, where adjustments are needed, and what infrastructure can be still of use.
- Provide recommendations to spin off co-creation in other local public services.
Results
The pilot contributed to the ultimate goal for the Houten municipality that is realizing a ‘new narrative’ within the municipality: a movement in policy making that engages its citizens (returning to the ‘human factor’): Engaging our citizens needs to be a central part of our strategic agenda in the municipality of Houten. The innovative digital solution of a block chain application was extremely promising and actions will be taken to realise it even after CoSIE.
Here we present only two examples of several tested interventions.
Intervention 1: Brugzit – Information desk with native language support
This intervention was chosen as one of the activities of the CoSIE project of the municipality of Houten, because it was related to two themes of the problem analysis: ‘basic needs’ & ‘twilight zone’. The problem analysis was based on the 30 community report stories which have been gathered in the project in Houten. This means that the choice for this intervention was a result of a co-creation process.
The Information desk has been set up for status holders in the municipality of Houten. The intention is that the newcomers receive support in understanding the information about the social domain that is given to them. The desk, organised by Brugzit (welfare organisation for Eritrean and Ethiopian status holders) has started with a focus on Eritrean status holders. This initiative tries to narrow the gap between the two worlds by providing the necessary information to people from Eritrea in their own language and focusing the assistance on increasing self-sufficiency. The information desk has started as 3-month pilot situated at the Town hall and was open at two days a week. The experiences of the clients with the services of the Information desk have been gathered periodically by the social workers of the Information desk themselves. The monthly evaluation showed that all clients were satisfied with the help that had been offered to them. The municipality of Houten was enthusiastic about the first results and has decided to continue the activities of the desk for the rest of the year (2020). The target group has been broadened and also include Syrian status holders. Brugzit organisation delivering the service has hired additional staff with a Syrian background for this. Also the opening hours have been changed and include evening hours. As a result of this some new clients have approached the Information desk. The activities of the desk were payed from the integration budget of the municipality.
The implementation of the intervention was less co-creative. The clients (and the Eritrean community) were regularly questioned about their experiences with the Information desk, and these experiences were used to adjust services (including opening hours). They were asked for their opinion and experiences but did not take part on an equal base in the (re)design of the intervention. The same applies for other stakeholder groups in the municipality, with exception of the municipality itself.
Intervention 2: Block chain application
The goal for this intervention was exploring technological solutions that improve the ‘personal match’ between job seekers and employers. It aimed at giving realistic insight in job seekers competences and skills, including those that people often do not show in their curriculum vitae, but are nevertheless important to know for an potential employer. We explored and developed (the outlines of) a prototype for a block chain app that can be described as an ‘alternative’ for a regular CV. The app visualises peoples skills, norms and values in order to find an optimal ‘cultural fit’ between job seekers and employers.
This intervention has been chosen as one of the activities of the ‘a good and personal match’ theme. The problem analysis was based on the 30 community report stories which have been gathered in the project. These stories – reaffirmed and specified during the conversation of change meeting – show how citizens in Houten find it hard to realise a personal connection with employers. Job seekers express their concerns regarding their lack of experience in work related (soft) skills. They often have a larger gap in time between different jobs, or never had a job at all. Together this gives employers a lack of insight in job seekers’ intrinsic motivation and competencies.
The block chain technology used shows similarities to the principle idea of co-creation that can be used to improve information exchange in the social domain. In short, Block chain supports the idea of ‘self-sovereign identity’ (SSI): this means being in full control of the information associated with a person and being able to share this information with others independently. In the case of realizing a ‘good personal match’, SSI gives people the opportunity to show even more ownership in their own job search.
This intervention was composed by several activities:
- First, the topic was explored with researchers of the research group ‘Digital Smart Services’, block chain experts who translated their exploration into an assignment for students at the HU university of applied sciences Utrecht to do a feasibility study with stakeholders (including the target group’s and employee’s needs, the municipality and block chain experts).
- Based on interviews, the study focused on the desires and expectations of both job seekers and employees. This showed that the application should focus on visualizing personal characteristics of a job seeker (including their hobbies and other relevant personal information), their norms and values (regarding their desired work environment, way of cooperating and work activities) and their personal skills and experiences.
- To verify these outcomes, the results were shared during a CoSIE workshop for researchers and professionals that gave insight in differences in norms and values between the involved stakeholders. Both activities were used to create a ‘proof of concept’. The municipality intends to take it forward to a test phase by engaging a private company to realise a prototype for the app.
Questions for self-reflection
When reading and listening to the video – what was really new in the approach to unemployment services?
What challenges and facilitators for co-creation can you identify in the pilot?