It may take some time (we certainly worked on it for two years), but then you have something to show for it. Our article on co-creation research has finally been published in a reputable scientific journal, the Journal of Participatory Research Methods. So, perseverance is key. And I believe it has turned out to be a good article. Read it online or download it as a PDF.
The article discusses how, as a researcher, you can make a difference by engaging the entire system of stakeholders. Furthermore, this involvement should not be limited to providing ‘data’ or giving feedback in focus groups, but also includes co-creation in the research process itself. This is achieved by working with a steering group (advisory committee/design team/planning group) that comprises key figures from the main stakeholder groups. The steering committee contributes to design, extends invitations, tests methods and tools, and more. In the article, we describe how working with the Large Scale Interventions (LSI) approach and the steering group ensures that your research is aligned with the dynamics of practice and meets the needs of individuals, while also facilitating the implementation of new knowledge. We use the three-year study ‘Impactful Graduation’ as an example, conducted in collaboration with co-authors Lisette Munneke, Els van der Pool, Sandra Doeze Jager, and Lieteke (Dr. B.E.) van Vucht Tijssen, commissioned by the National Research Institute for Education (NRO). By applying LSI principles in the meetings with the steering committee, we have collectively fostered increasingly larger circles of engagement, as illustrated in Figure 1.
Figure 1: Ever-widening circles of engagement
How co-creative was our example project? In the article, we reflect on the process and outcomes of this project using a framework for change strategies and levels of engagement (see Table 1). Our main lesson is that we could have shared even more leadership and responsibility with the leading group, even in the funding phase. We still often found ourselves in ‘test or consult’ mode. Another lesson is that the effectiveness of the LSI approach can be significantly increased if you ensure that sufficient resources are available to compensate stakeholders who participate in their own time, whether financially or otherwise. This makes involving stakeholders such as students, residents, and care users easier.
Table 1: Research change strategies and development of change capacity and ownership
