Co-production practitioners network

Date: 08.09.2010

Location: NESTA, 1 Plough Place, London, EC4A 1DE

The fourth Co-production Practitioners Network event brought members together to shape the future of the network.

Participants put forth a wealth of ideas and plans, which will be developed by a member steering group into next year’s programme of activities.

The co-production practitioners' network was formed in October 2009 to provide a forum for frontline practitioners to share learning and insights about their work. Its 110 members come from a range of services, including housing, mental health, criminal justice, adult social care, co-design, disability equality, time-banking and healthcare.

Participants at the event were asked to define what makes the network valuable to them.

In response, they mentioned the opportunity to discuss co-production practices beyond service divides; the chance to learn from tools and models used by other practitioners, exchange knowledge and seek opportunities for partnership.

NESTA and nef (the New Economics Foundation), who are supporting the network in its second year of existence, called members to "co-produce" the future of the network by sharing ideas about what they want it to deliver and exploring options for its sustainability.

The discussions produced a wealth of ideas including the desire to grow the network outside the restricted circle of practitioners and opening it up to interactions with the public; the suggestion to organise learning visits as part of a skills and leadership development programme; the need for the network and its members to work as ambassadors of co-production and influence the policy and practice of public services, and the proposal to hold "marketplace" events, where members come together to help each other with any specific issues they are facing and coproduce solutions to them.

A steering group received the mandate to develop these ideas further and produce a plan for next year's activities, which will be reviewed by members at the next network event in December 2010.

If you would like to find out more about the event or contribute your views about the future of the network you can get in touch with Ben and visit the Coproduction Practitioners Network.