Belong in Plymouth Neighbourhood Co Creation Learning:
In the world of co-creation and community-led change, a fundamental truth quickly becomes apparent: meeting people where they are, being focussed on the range of needs and aptitudes and constantly adapting to support inclusion and equity of involvement. You can have the most brilliant methodology, the most inspiring goals, but if you don't deeply understand and adapt to who is in the room – their experiences, their challenges, their needs – your efforts will fall short. This was a pivotal learning for us, shaping our approach week by week.
Meeting People Where They Are
When we set out to run our co-creation sessions, we were thrilled to see more people sign up than we expected. However, this also meant embracing a wonderfully diverse, yet complex, group. We had individuals who were quite nervous, completely new to such exercises. Some carried the weight of significant trauma or enduring mental health issues. Others faced fundamental barriers, like difficulty with reading and writing. And, crucially, life didn't stop at our door: people needed to bring their babies and even their dogs. This wasn't a neat, homogenous cohort; it was a vibrant cross-section of real life, including dedicated practitioners from various organizations.
This rich tapestry of human experience meant that a rigid, pre-planned agenda wouldn't work. We couldn't simply plow through a fixed curriculum. Instead, our guiding principle became feeling our way forward.
The Art of Responsive Design
Three of us from the core team became highly attuned to this need for adaptability. Between each weekly session, we would meet, not just to plan logistics, but to sense our way through it. We’d reflect on the previous session: What resonated? What felt challenging? What were the unspoken cues from the group?
This ongoing "sensing" allowed us to better understand where people were at emotionally, cognitively, and practically. It enabled us to design the next step in a way that brought them closer together and more confident to explore, discover and share together.
Our overarching purpose remained consistent: to dedicate roughly half our time to deepening understanding about the issues and the other half to imagining potential solutions. This 50/50 split between "understanding" (co discovery and definition of issues) and "imagination/solutions" (co-creation) provided a flexible framework. Within that framework, however, every activity, every question, and every moment was carefully considered through the lens of our unique group's context.
By prioritizing this deep understanding of our audience, by being prepared to adjust and respond rather than rigidly adhere to a plan, we discovered that authentic engagement flourishes. It's a powerful reminder that truly impactful work isn't just about what you deliver, but about how you adapt to those you serve.