What Does Co-creation Look Like?

What is this advice about?

This article builds on advice offered to applicants of the Everyday Heritage Grants scheme, aimed at helping them understand how to engage communities effectively in co-creation within heritage projects. Feedback from previous rounds showed that many applicants underestimate the time and effort required to gain strong community buy-in and support.

Co-creation practices can significantly enrich community-facing heritage projects, ensuring they are inclusive, sustainable, and have a lasting impact.

What are the key points?

What is co-creation?

The term 'co-creation' is used across various sectors, but in the context of heritage, it refers to actively involving communities in shaping both the process and the outcomes of a project. Co-creation fosters meaningful collaboration, ensuring that everyone involved plays a vital role and that their contributions are valued equally.

This approach helps to build lasting, mutually beneficial relationships between communities, facilitators, and contributors.

When we talk about co-creation in heritage projects, we mean:

• Active involvement. Communities should play a role in shaping both the project’s outputs and decision-making processes. At Historic England, Active Participation is our strategic approach toward working together with more people, and a more diverse range of people, to act in support of the historic environment
• Collaborative decision-making. Communities are engaged in defining the subject, processes, and objectives of the project, with support from facilitators when necessary
• Mutual benefit. Projects should create long-lasting, positive relationships between all stakeholders, including the community, facilitators, and contributors
• Equality and respect. Everyone's expertise and contributions are valued equally, with no one role considered more important than another
• Process and product balance. The process of co-creation is as valuable as the result
• Pride and ownership. Everyone involved should feel proud of their contributions and the project

However, co-creation does not mean:

• Communities being passive audiences or consumers of the project's output
• Communities being reduced to subjects for interviews, photos, or videos, without a meaningful role in the project
• Communities only taking on admin or support roles without being involved in decision-making
• Professionals creating the final product independently, without integrating community-created content

How to ensure your project is co-created

It's important to note that co-creation can take various forms depending on the specifics of your project.

When planning, there are various exercises to try and assess where your community engagement lies on a co-creation scale, such as the one below. The more deeply communities are involved, the more likely your project will have a lasting and meaningful impact.

Consider the following principles when planning your engagement:

• Everyone has a right and responsibility to care for and shape our heritage
• A love for heritage often begins with excitement and wonder, not formal knowledge or facts
• There are many ways people can become engaged with heritage, regardless of their background or expertise
• People are often the source of enthusiasm and resilience that help projects get off the ground and succeed long term

Additionally, you could ask yourself the following questions:

1.

Are community members actively involved in decision-making?

In co-creation, communities should have a say in shaping the project's direction and goals. Their input should inform key decisions, from the scope of the project to how it’s delivered.

2.

Are their contributions valued equally?

Every participant, whether a community member, facilitator, or partner, should feel their expertise and efforts are respected. Acknowledge and celebrate contributions, ensuring that no one is sidelined.

3.

Is the process as important as the product?

Co-creation values the journey as much as the outcome. The relationships built, the skills developed, and the lessons learned during the process should be seen as vital parts of the project's success.

4.

Will the project have a legacy?

Co-creation isn’t about the immediate outcomes; it’s about creating lasting connections and positive impacts that endure beyond the project’s end.

Further reading

• Co-creating Community Projects guidance by SHARE Museums East
• Read more of Historic England's resources on understanding and working with diverse audiences and participants