Boomsma, Reinder F. (2021) Co-creation and the role of expert knowledge herein. A case study of the Hegewarren. Master thesis.
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Abstract
Co-creation is increasingly used in the public sector to deal with complex societal and environmental problems. However, there is relatively little research that analyzes co-creation practices and the role of experts and professionals in co-creation processes. Therefore, the aim of this thesis is to study how experts are best able to convey their knowledge to the others involved in the process, in a way that it contributes to the project content wise and satisfies the others involved. This study focuses on one case study: the co-creation process in a peatland polder, the Hegewarren. The main focus of the research falls on the experts’ interaction with the other professionals, and on the interaction between the experts and the non-professional actors. Internet research, document analysis, action research, and in-depth semi-structured interviews are used as methods in this research. Four main conclusions are drawn from this study. First, the way of contracting influenced the way the experts operated; having a single contract or a collaboration agreement would improve this collaboration. Contracts should be clear and not too complicated since the co-creation process itself needs already a substantial amount of effort and energy. Second, talking through the expectations in the beginning would have helped the project, as this would have prevented the situations in which the actors did not know what to expect from each other. Especially for the role of experts, for which a role could be aimed for which seemed to be most appreciated in this project: first listening to the different interests, then wrapping up insights and create with their knowledge a product, and subsequently communicating the product to the co-creation team again in a way that it is understandable. Also, the products need to be in time, and should not be focused on the details but rather give the global effects of the designs. Third, experts should invest time and effort in the beginning of the process to become familiar to the area. Especially in a co-creation project, where there is continuous interaction with local actors, it is important that experts know where they talk about and no energy is lost in misunderstandings regarding the area. Finally, clear allocation of responsibilities and roles would contribute to better collaboration between experts and the other actors. Especially the role of project manager should be clearly assigned as this role seemed to be very important in this project.
| Item Type: | Thesis (Master) |
|---|---|
| Degree programme: | Environmental & Infrastructure Planning |
| Supervisor: | Kann, F.M.G. van and Brink, C. van den |
| Date Deposited: | 20 Jul 2022 07:42 |
| Last Modified: | 20 Jul 2022 07:42 |
| URI: | https://frw.studenttheses.ub.rug.nl/id/eprint/3902 |
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