Objectives
Unemployment remains an important issue for the city of Valencia and for the Spanish economy in general. The job market is precarious, with single wage families often unable to sustain the family economy. Food banks are under increasing pressure to cope with demand where hundreds of normal families are being forced to use these support mechanisms. In Spain as in most developed economies, national and local governments perceive support for new businesses creation as a means to secure (future) employment.
Co-Crea-Te pilot seeked to contribute to the active employment policies currently being carried out by the Local Authority of Economic and Sustainable Development (Valènciactiva), which is providing new services and infrastructures in a concerted effort to reintroduce active employment policies into the local ecosystem.
The main aim in the pilot is threefold. First, to improve the business and other capabilities and skills of job seekers. Second, to improve the quality of training/mentoring being offered in the area of business creation. Third, to create as many project as possible with potential of constitution. The pilot add two sub-aims to the project. First, to personalize public services offered in business creation as much as possible. Second, to potentially bring about systemic change in the way public services are being delivered in terms of user involvement in co-initiation, co-design, co-implementation, co-production and co-evaluation.
Result
The co-working space was inaugurated on 11th January 2019. There were just nine business projects in February. By September, the community had grown to 240 members with 153 business projects. Key results by the end of the project:
- Over 350 registered participants
- 220 projects on the project management system
- 60+ new firms
- 25 new projects created through co-creation efforts and synergies
- 1470 tweets
- A manifesto for co-creation
- 2 new co-crea-te centres
Learnings
It is necessary to find space, time and energy in order to continue with the good practice generated by embracing co-creation. Starting a service, the Co-Crea-Te movement was able to introduce all elements of co-initiation, co-design, co-production and co-evaluation into the service. Most participants insisted upon the security and accompaniment they have felt that does not exist in similar services.
We would also add the concept of co-management from our experience, as it has formed a fundamental part of the development of the service and has engendered a more rooted sense of belonging among some users. When you add all those ingredients together and are faithful to creating a service that is built on firm pillars of co-creative practices, concepts such as the desire for mutual help, collaborative action and community-based decision-making can occur organically.
Consistent catalysts of co-creation need to exist in order to bring about the constant chemical reactions that allow for such best practices to contiue in the long run.
For co-creation to become an internalised, normalised practice, the effort to co-create must be constant.
Read more about the pilot at the Cosie project homepage