Co-Creation Lab brings together researchers and social actors
When the lab held its first workshop on 26 March, around 50 people from different sectors of society participated. Photo: Erica Magnusson
How are we to tackle the challenges of the future and the major changes needed to move towards a more sustainable society? This is the mission of the UUniCORN institute. The ambition is to bring together researchers, social actors and other stakeholders and one way to do this is through the institute’s Co-Creation Lab.
The Co-Creation Lab focuses on addressing complex sustainability challenges that cross disciplinary, sectoral and societal boundaries. The challenges are characterised by conflicting objectives, interconnectedness and unpredictable outcomes.
The work is led by Eva Friman, a researcher at the Centre for Health and Sustainability. She has been involved since the lab started.
“The idea of a co-creation lab has emerged from many years of transdisciplinary research at the Centre for Health and Sustainability (formerly the Sustainability Learning and Research Centre) and more recently within the Mistra Environmental Communication research programme. From this research, we developed a framework to facilitate the co-creation of knowledge and practices with researchers and actors in and outside academia, as a way of contributing to sustainable societal transition,” Friman explains.
Workshop with 50 participants
When the lab held its first workshop on 26 March, around 50 people from different sectors of society participated. The aim of the workshop was to jointly create a vision of how the activities of the Co-Creation Lab and the research at UUniCORN will have developed in five years, as well as the impacts and influence on society.
One of the participants was Maria Pettersson an innovation manager from Uppsala Municipality. Photo: Erica Magnusson
One of the participants was Maria Pettersson from Uppsala Municipality, an innovation manager who works with development and innovation issues centrally in the municipality. She wants to be involved in the Co-Creation Lab to get new input for her work and to make new contacts. Petterson says that UUniCORN and the Co-creation Lab have an important role to play in addressing the complex issues we face in the transition to a sustainable society.
“Listening to others and sharing my own expertise from the municipality creates new ideas and opportunities. The workshop was very rewarding and educational and I met a lot of new people with expertise that feels interesting and relevant to my job,” Pettersson says.
Importance of communication
During the workshop participants had group discussions, and one of the topics discussed in Pettersson’s group was communication.
“One of the many insights that came out of the workshop was the importance of breaking down communication around these issues so that it is relevant and understandable to different audiences. We talked a lot about conflicting goals and how they hamper sustainability action,” says Petterson.
The groups were also asked to specify their next steps in the process of working towards a sustainable transition.
“My next step, which I will do straight away tomorrow, is to start talking to people via LinkedIn. I will share my participation with colleagues and also have a question to take with me from one of the participants to a colleague.”
Open and inclusive environment
Another participant was Jason Crawford, a senior lecturer at the Department of Business Studies at Uppsala University. He is a researcher in accounting with a focus on the relationship between governance, sustainability, risk and AI.
“I am very interested in the work of UUniCORN and the Co-Creation Lab on sustainability. This is a great initiative to build and share knowledge in an open and inclusive environment. The purpose of the lab, to create a boundary-crossing community, is really good. We need to have exchanges between academics and practitioners in order to solve the socially important problems and challenges we face,” Crawford says.
Erica Magnusson