“Learning-by-doing” from Co-creation Processes: success factors, failures, and opportunities for improvement

Since 2018, the CLEVER Cities project has put into practice an inclusive co-creation processes that aims at involving stakeholders (particularly: citizens, civil society, public and private entities) in decision-making for the implementation of large-scale, urban Nature-based Solutions (NBS). The scope of this research is to highlight the importance of co-creation process as an added value beyond the benefits of the actual NBS implemented in the CLEVER Action Labs (CALs). To evaluate success factors and failures from the relative impacts generated in the project, a systematic approach was developed to gather lessons learned along the co-creation pathway. Six criteria of analysis were identified from the data gathered over the project lifetime which included: i) the shared governance of the co-creation process, ii) co-design experiences and openness to public participation, iii) stakeholders’ engagement practices, iv) policy-making and administrative contexts, v) political and economic resource as well as vi) communication and dissemination processes. Lastly, the lessons learned of the co-creation process were considered by looking at the overall impact of the process itself in achieving its common goals, objectives, and key results.