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After a very exciting day “at” the @cocreatechange network gathering we thought we’d share some of the things we’ve learnt about Co-Creation over the last few years... (long thread alert!) 
Since 2013, we’ve been working in #Gloucester to create great cultural events and experiences that can bring communities together, make life vibrant and exciting – and change things for the better. In that time, we’ve learned loads about what works and what doesn’t.
We’ve learned first-hand from successes and failures; from big ideas that flopped spectacularly and from things we tried that instantly took off. Our thinking has also been inspired and informed by others working in a ‘co-created’ way (like our fellow members of @cocreatechange).
Based on what we’ve learned so far (and are *definitely still* learning), we tried to identify some key ingredients in a ‘recipe’ for amazing creative experiences that bring artists and communities together. https://strikealight.org.uk/the-strike-a-light-recipe/
1. Work ‘with’, not ‘to’
Change the dynamic between your org and the communities it exists to serve. Become co-collaborators, creating together. Not ‘supplier and consumer’. Real, live human beings interacting with each other and making cultural events together, side-by-side.
Change the dynamic between your org and the communities it exists to serve. Become co-collaborators, creating together. Not ‘supplier and consumer’. Real, live human beings interacting with each other and making cultural events together, side-by-side.
2. Put in tiiiiiime
Invest in this process – make it a long-term thing. It takes time to build relationships, to put down roots, for work and ideas to grow. You can’t shortcut those things. Expect to think in terms of months or even years, not ‘nights’.
Invest in this process – make it a long-term thing. It takes time to build relationships, to put down roots, for work and ideas to grow. You can’t shortcut those things. Expect to think in terms of months or even years, not ‘nights’.
3. Invest in artists
Artists are crucial to our recipe: it’s all about bringing artists and communities together. Artists are the experts in creativity – and in opening other people’s creativity. Value them. Back them. Pay them! Give them stability and space.
Artists are crucial to our recipe: it’s all about bringing artists and communities together. Artists are the experts in creativity – and in opening other people’s creativity. Value them. Back them. Pay them! Give them stability and space.
4. Amplify underrepresented voices
The creative case for diversity is real – culture is just better the more perspectives are in the mix. But it’s also a point of principle: culture is where our collective stories get told. So it needs to tell ALL our stories...
The creative case for diversity is real – culture is just better the more perspectives are in the mix. But it’s also a point of principle: culture is where our collective stories get told. So it needs to tell ALL our stories...
And, currently, it doesn’t do that equally. Use your platform to help redress this imbalance: find stories, voices & perspectives that aren’t adequately represented and amplify those. (This goes for staffing and teams too). Diversify your workforce!
5. Do it in unexpected places
Geography matters. Place is a part of community. So celebrate those places; reimagine them; bring them alive in ways that get people talking. Go to the places where community is already happening – don’t force people to come to you.
Geography matters. Place is a part of community. So celebrate those places; reimagine them; bring them alive in ways that get people talking. Go to the places where community is already happening – don’t force people to come to you.
6. Be open, responsive and flexible
Go on a journey with people – don’t insist on the destination before you set off. Remain open to possibility and changes along the way. It’s where the unexpected, the exciting, the adventurous, the unimaginable can happen.
Go on a journey with people – don’t insist on the destination before you set off. Remain open to possibility and changes along the way. It’s where the unexpected, the exciting, the adventurous, the unimaginable can happen.
7. Share power in the process
This is the last one cos it’s the biggie – it underpins everything. Sharing power is the way of ensuring you’re handling all the other ingredients properly & authentically. You have to genuinely give all involved in the process power to shape it...
This is the last one cos it’s the biggie – it underpins everything. Sharing power is the way of ensuring you’re handling all the other ingredients properly & authentically. You have to genuinely give all involved in the process power to shape it...
We know this one can be scary – so many of us have been conditioned to get hold of and exercise as much power as possible. But REAL CHANGE happens when POWER IS SHARED – for the good of all – not grasped for ourselves. https://strikealight.org.uk/the-strike-a-light-recipe/
