Coproduction in Practice

Coproduction means depending on people who aren’t ‘in’ your organisation to deliver outcomes on which your organisation is judged.  In practice all public services are coproduced – to a better, or worse standard.  Chamberlain Forum exists to help public services and communities improve the way they are able to work together to produce benefits.

Our series of blogs on coproduction in practice starts here:

Coproduction and the Core Economy – looking at the definition of coproduction and the idea of the ‘core economy’ developed by Edgar Cahn of the Time Dollar Institute, Washington DC.

Coproduction, the Surface Economy and Welfare Society – why coproduction is more than ‘involving communities in public services’ and what ‘welfare society’ looks like.

What’s Wrong With Efficiency – from Frederick Taylor through to Total Quality and process re-engineering, managerialism and the quest for narrow ‘efficiency’ has led to ‘production line’ mentality in service delivery.   The future lies in understanding ‘production webs’ – and that needs skilled workers, rather than centralised managerial ‘experts’.

Cooking with Community Involvement – community involvement is an ingredient in public services but is ‘empowerment’ really the point?  Let’s get real about involving communities in decisions and realise that more community involvement doesn’t necessarily mean better outcomes.

Relevant Chamberlain Forum publications to look at  include:

Looking Sideways by Paul Slatter published July 2010 an examination of coproduction in neighbourhood public services.  The report introduces the idea of coefficiency (the extent to which public agencies and communities are able to work effectively in jointly producing public services) and bases a Neighbourhood Equity Model on observations that areas with high social capital experience premium increases in property values.  download (PDF)

Coproduction in Practice: Six Case Studies from the West Midlands by Paul Slatter, published February 2011 highlights Time2Trade in West Bromwich, WATMOS in Walsall, Think Local in Sandwell, Community Anchors in Warwickshire, Online Neighbourhoods and Valuing Worth in Birmingham.  download (PDF)

Theories of Community Strength by Paul Slatter and Hannah Worth, published May 2011 is based on structured dialogue with communities in four Birmingham neighbourhoods aimed at finding what makes a quality neighbourhood, a cohesive community, an empowered community and a place where communities and the police and council work together.  download (PDF)

Are We Being Heard? A collaborative enquiry into the practice and future of consultation by Hannah Worth, Paul Slatter and Claire Spencer, published December 2011 suggests developing ‘conversation’ between communities and public services as a more ‘intelligent’ approach than consultation. download (PDF)