The Ethical Compass

Co-creation is a value-based practice that informs how you work with people

Co-creation is a value-based practice that informs how you work with people

Relational parameters:

Ethical principles define the consensus, norms and expectations of a community regarding co-creative service relationships and practices. What moral stance and ethics facilitate co-creation is a matter of shared principles. To help us arrive at more specific shared principles in co-creating services we might need to consider the following relational parameters of service ethics, all to be agreed or interpreted in reflective conversations.

• Significance: What is at stake for each party (in the short and long-term)? What is supposed to be at stake?
• Responsibilities:  What is the level of responsibility for the other that is expected of each party? What knowledge of expected outcomes do parties enjoy?
• Resources: What resources are expected of or allocated to each party? Are all parties seen as important, capable and resourceful?
• Participation and influence: What level of influence or choice each party is expected to exercise? Is this doable given resources perceived dependencies and power inequalities?

In service practice, each of these four sets of parameters may be symmetrically or asymmetrically distributed in the definition of the service. The unequal distribution might need to be reconsidered in agreeing on new co-creative ethics. For example, resources can be low for both service parties in some service contexts while in others particularly user influence may be low. Is this what we desire? Can this be improved and how?

What parameters might be important in exploring co-creation ethics in your chosen service?

In the Roadmap for co-creation, CoSIE identify some important system related elements for co-creation

Co-creation means a shift in power. It moves services away from doing ‘to’ or ‘for’ people, and into the domain of working with citizens and communities.

Co-creation is not consultation. Whilst consultation is a valid way of engaging ‘citizen voice’ in a process, it shouldn’t be confused with the power shift that co-creation facilitates

Equity is fundamental to facilitating real conversations and building the relationships that underpin co-creation activities. There is no place for hierarchy.

Co-creation is led by empathy – to achieve this we need to actively listen to understand and value different perspectives

Co-creation utilizes people’s strengths and capacities, bringing these together to inform and make change. In this sense, it can be seen as an asset-based approach

Transparency about the process, decision-making and scope of the actions to be taken is vital in creating trust with participants

Below you find a short conversation on the need to focus more on how you do things rather then what you do.

Please reflect upon following in relation to your own (or chosen pilot) context

Our aim here is not to prescribe in detail the ethics of co-creation and its supportive ethos. Instead, we urge you to adopt a reflective and deliberative approach to exploring these in your contexts by referring to issues such as:

What knowledge sources are important to form co-creative ethics, including experiential knowledge?

What approach to participants should guide co-creation, especially with individuals supported by the service?

What approach to service professionals’ skills, capacities and roles and relationships should guide co-creation practice?