Project description
Fostering innovation on a broad scale
In the dynamic landscape of collaborative initiatives, it is more important than ever to understand the intricacies of co-creation processes and outcomes under diverse cultural, societal, and regulatory backgrounds. It is necessary to delve deep into the realms of robotics and urban energy domains. This is the aim of the EU-funded SCALINGS project. By investigating the implementation, uptake, and outcomes of co-creation instruments in robotics and urban energy domains across 10 countries, SCALINGS seeks to identify scalable and transferable practices. Armed with unique data, transformative frameworks, and a comprehensive EU Policy Roadmap, SCALINGS paves the way for widespread co-creation dissemination, fostering innovation and cross-cultural collaboration. The project will collaborate with over two dozen European co-creation initiatives.
Objective
Co-creation practice – and co-creation research – are at a crossroads: More than ever, initiatives to boost innovation through collaboration among diverse actors are flourishing across Europe. Yet, this mainstreaming poses new challenges to better understand “co-creation processes and outcomes under various cultural, societal and regulatory backgrounds to allow better-targeted policy support” (SwafS-13-17). To date, no systematic studies exist that detail how co-creation instruments operate under different socio-cultural conditions, i.e. if “best practices” will be effective elsewhere or if the resulting products and services are compatible with new markets.
SCALINGS addresses the challenge of mainstreaming co-creation across a diverse Europe head-on: In the first ever rigorous comparative study, we will investigate the implementation, uptake, and outcomes of three co-creation instruments (public procurement of innovation, co-creation facilities, and living labs) in two technical domains (robotics and urban energy) across 10 countries. Using comparative case studies and coordinated cross-country experiments, we explore if and how these instruments can be generalized, transferred, or scaled up to new socio-cultural, economic, or institutional conditions to unleash their innovative power.
Based on this unique data set, we will develop two new transformative frameworks – “situated co-creation” and “socially robust scaling” – to guide the wider dissemination of co-creation. We will synthesize our findings into an “EU Policy Roadmap” to support ongoing EU innovation policy efforts. Empirically, SCALINGS is closely integrated with over two dozen European co-creation initiatives that deal with cross-cultural transferability on a daily basis. Together with these partners, we will co-create enhanced practices that feed directly back into their work and strategy. Finally, we will launch a training program (boot camp) on co-creation in diverse settings for other EU consortia.
Fields of science
Programme(s)
- H2020-EU.5.c. - Integrate society in science and innovation issues, policies and activities in order to integrate citizens' interests and values and to increase the quality, relevance, social acceptability and sustainability of research and innovation outcomes in various fields of activity from social innovation to areas such as biotechnology and nanotechnology Main Programme
- H2020-EU.5.f. - Develop the governance for the advancement of responsible research and innovation by all stakeholders, which is sensitive to society needs and demands and promote an ethics framework for research and innovation
Funding Scheme
RIA - Research and Innovation actionCoordinator
80333 Muenchen
Germany