Poster 23: Ulike aktørers erfaringer med samskaping av aktive møteplasser

Co-creating processes with many stakeholders involved were perceived as demanding but also rewarding. Collaborating and challenging each other over time resulted in more innovative plans.

Background: Norwegian municipalities have a responsibility for providing inhabitants with possibilities to live healthy and active lives and creating public open spaces (POS) one of many ways to facilitate physical and social activity in neighbourhoods. Between 2020 and 2022 six Norwegian municipalities in the Eastern part of Norway participated in a project initiated by the NGO Tverga partnered with a Asplan Viak. Together these stakeholders worked closely to co-create plans for new and innovative POS in each municipality. Co-creation has been suggested as a good strategy for working together to support innovation, but more knowledge is needed on how different stakeholders experience such processes. Thus, the aim of this study was to gain in-depth knowledge of the experiences of the co-creation processes.

Methods: We conducted semi-structured group interviews with participants from Asplan Viak, Tverga, and employees from the six Norwegian municipalities involved in the project. Interviews were conducted with each stakeholder group separately. The transcribed text data was analyzed by systematic text condensation.

Results: Preliminary analyses showed that all stakeholders perceived the process as challenging and demanding, and that they used more time and recourses than usual when developing projects. The focus on innovation was particularly challenging, especially for the municipal informants, as it made it unclear what was expected, what to build, and what the next step should be. Although the informants found it resource intensive to collaborate closely with the other stakeholders and described it as a somewhat “messy process”, they also highlighted that it was motivating to take on different responsibilities and it was experienced as rewarding. There was also an agreement across stakeholders that in the end, the plans turned out to be better than what each stakeholder could have made themselves, as more work and thoughts were put into them. In addition to the improved plans, the municipal informants also stated that the collaboration had been created learning outcomes and knowledge useful for other projects.

Conclusions: To collaborate and challenge each other over time in co-creating processes was experienced as rewarding. Even though the process can be seen as time-consuming and demanding at some points, it led to more innovative plans and greater learning outcomes. Therefore, municipalities should invest time and resources in collaborating with other stakeholders when developing public open spaces, where the goal is not to finish in the shortest amount of time, but rather create a better plan to fit the needs of the community.