What is Co-Production and How Is It Related To Collaborative Consumption?

Lucie Stephens, head of co-production at nef (the new economics foundation) in the UK recently spoke in Toronto as part of the MaRS Global Leadership Series. Her lecture, “Growing the core economy: An opportunity for co-production,” highlighted this innovative methodology and its potential to redefine the way we deliver public services.

What is co-production? nef defines it as “the means of delivering public services in an equal and reciprocal relationship between professionals, users of the services, their families and their neighbours.” So instead of professionals (from the government, a non-profit, or consultancy) delivering programs to users, co-production empowers citizens to co-design and co-deliver public services alongside these professionals. This way, people and communities served by a project evolve from a potential drain on the system to potential collaborators and hidden resources. Making use of underutilized assets is also a core value of collaborative consumption. The diagram below seeks to see what other similarities these two concepts share, while also highlighting their key differences.

For more information on co-production, check out nef’s Co-production Manifesto and Lucie’s lecture from the MaRS event. For those in Toronto, join the Co-Production Meetup group for more discussions, events and insights.