Overview:

Co-creation with diverse stakeholders in the design of cross-border public services is of paramount importance. The development of user-centric digital services for cross-border mobility must be a collaborative effort that involves input from a wide range of actors, including citizens, public institutions, and other key players. By engaging in co-creation, we ensure that the services we design are not only technically sound but also align with public values, respect planetary boundaries, and serve the real needs of users. This approach promotes inclusivity, openness, and fairness, allowing us to bridge gaps from diverse perspectives and design services that are fitting for people with different lived experiences. Co-creation empowers stakeholders to actively participate in the development process, resulting in more effective and user-friendly solutions that truly serve the interests of citizens, reinforcing the idea that they are democratic agents, not mere consumers or subjects.

Role and description:

In the ACROSS project, co-creation is central to our approach in developing user-centric digital public services for cross-border mobility. We have conducted a series of co-creation workshops with both internal and external stakeholders to ensure that the services we design are informed by a diverse array of voices and perspectives. These workshops have served as critical milestones in our journey, allowing us to define shared values and common goals among our project partners and gather invaluable insights from end-users and external experts in the field. 

Through open and participatory discussions, we have explored the intricacies of cross-border life events, such as studying abroad or working in a foreign country, and identified pain points and challenges faced by individuals during these processes. Our co-creation workshops are part of our commitment to inclusivity, openness, and fairness, as we work collectively to create solutions that prioritize the needs of citizens and respect environmental boundaries. These workshops serve as a foundational element in our methodology, enabling us to build digital services that empower individuals as democratic agents with the ability to navigate the complexities of cross-border mobility.

We employed many co-creative methods, some which we developed ourselves for the context and goals of our workshop (see the gap mapping workshop in D2.4), and some more common methods. The common co-creation methods included:

• Value ladder, which we adapted to define and map the ‘legacies’ we want to leave behind after the completion of the ACROSS project.
• Ambition ranking, to define which gaps from the Gap Analysis were most important for the design of the ACROSS platform. 
• 4 quadrants, as a warming-up exercise at the beginning of the first Plenary Meeting. 
• Public Stack puzzle, which we used to reflect on the values of the design and governance of the ACROSS platform and eventually further developed into the Public Stack Reflection Cards. 

Developed by: 

Waag