This article is based on five years of longitudinal participatory action research on how former pre‐bachelor programme students with a refugee background experience finding their way into Dutch higher education and society. The four‐member research team and authors (two of which were former refugees), found that refugee students face a significant barrier of “us‐versus‐them,” especially in an educational context. We explored how creative co‐creation contributed to rethinking difference and sameness in higher education by breaking through or transcending this divide. Creative co‐creation through play, storytelling, or constructing artefacts enables “alterity,” approaching the other from the other’s position. Movement and action help to shape the world around us: Connecting and shifting positions creates sameness while leaving space for difference. Creative co‐creation during our research process included making co‐creation artefacts and activities, thus involving outreach to broader audiences for engagement. In the research process, it became clear that successful participation matters to all students and provides more opportunities for all, not just refugee students. A new notion of “we” in Dutch higher education and society that does not perpetuate the divide between “us” and “them” requires a shared responsibility. Higher education needs the university authorities and the teachers to make room for student stories and should provide spaces for dialogue and community development.
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Active participation of stakeholders in health research practice is important to generate societal impact of outcomes, as innovations will more likely be implemented and disseminated in clinical practice. To foster a co-creative process, numerous frameworks and tools are available. As they originate from different professions, it is not evident that health researchers are aware of these tools, or able to select and use them in a meaningful way. This article describes the bottom-up development process of a compass and presents the final outcome. This Co-creation Impact Compass combines a well-known business model with tools from design thinking that promote active participation by all relevant stakeholders. It aims to support healthcare researchers to select helpful and valid co-creation tools for the right purpose and at the right moment. Using the Co-creation Impact Compass might increase the researchers’ understanding of the value of co-creation, and it provides help to engage stakeholders in all phases of a research project.
This study describes the process of developing a typical dish for a slow city, using the lens of co-creation and coproduction. The slow movement argues that appreciation of local cuisine increases through events and developing slow food practices. Participant observation and interviews with actors involved in the development process revealed the symbolic components used to enhance the cultural heritage of Vizela, Portugal as a slow city. The research shows that the slow city initiative has gradually provided the basis for a gastronomic attraction to support tourist development. The development of a typical dish for the city was found to aid the recovery and revalorization of local knowledge, while the support of gastronomic culture by the local authority and community participation helped to strengthen regional identity and to develop an attractive and sustainable tourist offer. Thus, this study revealed the importance of residents in this development process as well as showed requirements that may support the rescue and cocreation of typical dishes for tourism.
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Flying insects like dragonflies, flies, bumblebees are able to couple hovering ability with the ability for a quick transition to forward flight. Therefore, they inspire us to investigate the application of swarms of flapping-wing mini-drones in horticulture. The production and trading of agricultural/horticultural goods account for the 9% of the Dutch gross domestic product. A significant part of the horticultural products are grown in greenhouses whose extension is becoming larger year by year. Swarms of bio-inspired mini-drones can be used in applications such as monitoring and control: the analysis of the data collected enables the greenhouse growers to achieve the optimal conditions for the plants health and thus a high productivity. Moreover, the bio-inspired mini-drones can detect eventual pest onset at plant level that leads to a strong reduction of chemicals utilization and an improvement of the food quality. The realization of these mini-drones is a multidisciplinary challenge as it requires a cross-domain collaboration between biologists, entomologists and engineers with expertise in robotics, mechanics, aerodynamics, electronics, etc. Moreover a co-creation based collaboration will be established with all the stakeholders involved. With this approach we can integrate technical and social-economic aspects and facilitate the adoption of this new technology that will make the Dutch horticulture industry more resilient and sustainable.
Agricultural/horticultural products account for 9% of Dutch gross domestic product. Yearly expansion of production involves major challenges concerning labour costs and plant health control. For growers, one of the most urgent problems is pest detection, as pests cause up to 10% harvest loss, while the use of chemicals is increasingly prohibited. For consumers, food safety is increasingly important. A potential solution for both challenges is frequent and automated pest monitoring. Although technological developments such as propeller-based drones and robotic arms are in full swing, these are not suitable for vertical horticulture (e.g. tomatoes, cucumbers). A better solution for less labour intensive pest detection in vertical crop horticulture, is a bio-inspired FW-MAV: Flapping Wings Micro Aerial Vehicle. Within this project we will develop tiny FW-MAVs inspired by insect agility, with high manoeuvrability for close plant inspection, even through leaves without damage. This project focusses on technical design, testing and prototyping of FW-MAV and on autonomous flight through vertically growing crops in greenhouses. The three biggest technical challenges for FW-MAV development are: 1) size, lower flight speed and hovering; 2) Flight time; and 3) Energy efficiency. The greenhouse environment and pest detection functionality pose additional challenges such as autonomous flight, high manoeuvrability, vertical take-off/landing, payload of sensors and other equipment. All of this is a multidisciplinary challenge requiring cross-domain collaboration between several partners, such as growers, biologists, entomologists and engineers with expertise in robotics, mechanics, aerodynamics, electronics, etc. In this project a co-creation based collaboration is established with all stakeholders involved, integrating technical and biological aspects.
Co-creatie is steeds vaker de gebruikte aanpak bij het ontwikkelen van innovatieve diensten en producten in de zorg, waarbij beoogd wordt om het spanningsveld tussen stijgende zorgvraag en afnemend zorgaanbod te verminderen, zoals bij het proces van extramuralisering . Deze diensten en producten worden ontworpen door zorginnovatoren via co-creatietools en -methoden. Co-creatie bestaat niet alleen uit het betrekken van relevante stakeholders in het ontwerpproces via creatieve methoden, maar ook uit het beschouwen van specifieke omgevingselementen (zowel sociaal als fysiek) en het continu oog hebben voor de complexe zorgprocessen waar de innovaties in ingebed moeten worden. Hoe dit precies moet, is bij zorginnovatoren vaak onbekend. Juist in de extramuralisering van de zorg is innoveren vanuit een systemisch perspectief essentieel aangezien er dan juist grote (vaak onvoorspelbare) veranderingen in omgeving en processen zullen gaan optreden, zoals geïdentificeerd in het concept onderzoeks- en innovatieprogramma Co-Creating Health, van de topsectoren Life Sciences & Health en Creatieve Industrie. Doel is om in een kleinschalig project van vijf maanden de basis te leggen voor een systemische ontwerptoolkit voor extramuralisering in de zorg, waarvoor bestaande kennis uit eerdere zorginnovatieprojecten wordt geïntegreerd. In een vervolgproject kan e.e.a. opgeschaald worden naar zorgcontexten in bredere zin (en/of preventie) Op basis van een systematische review van uitgevoerde co-creatie in de zorgprojecten (feb en maart ’18), aangevuld met literatuuronderzoek m.b.t. procesanalyse en systemische methoden wordt een lijst van “werkzame toolkitelementen” geformuleerd die wordt gevalideerd door experts werkzaam bij ontwerpbureaus voor de zorg (april en mei ’18). Tot slot wordt een aantal conceptrichtingen m.b.t. vorm (al dan niet digitaal) en inhoud (bijv. kaartenset, mock-uproom of game) ontwikkeld (juni ‘18) en wordt op een vervolgonderzoeksaanvraag (bijvoorbeeld voor SIA) geanticipeerd om de toolkit(s) daadwerkelijk te kunnen gaan maken.
