SISCODE: Co-design for Society in Innovation and Science

About Resource

SISCODE is a consortium of institutions that ran a study to better understand the dynamics of co-creation and what outcomes can be expected from such collaborations by establishing  “co-creation labs” across Europe. Each co-creation lab focuses on bringing people from diverse backgrounds and expertise together to develop working and sustainable solutions to local and societal problems. The collaborators include research institutions, science museums, policymakers, and a diverse group of practitioners and community members. Each co-creation lab also takes a different form, depending on how collaborators determine it will work best in their communities. For example, the Science Gallery Dublin emerged as one co-creation space that has since inspired additional Science Galleries around the world, including the Science Gallery Detroit. The co-creation labs particularly focus on testing bottom-up design methods to allow co-creators' insights to inform policies for science and technology, and for responsible research and innovation.

Using the results, SISCODE developed a set of approaches to co-creation that can be scaled and replicated in other contexts. As part of the study, co-creation labs worked with communities to tackle challenges alongside local stakeholders to find solutions. Then these solutions were shared with local policymakers to develop policies responsive to grassroots initiatives and local communities. SISCODE has developed a repository of resources for community-driven and collaboratively developed science, including guidebooks and toolkits for policy change and prototyping policy strategies.