How do municipalities practice co-creation as a form of public engagement with science and technology? What dynamics arise between the stakeholders involved? And to what extent can citizens actually claim agency over the co-creation process and its outcomes?
In their latest publication, titled “Finding solutions to problems that never existed: a case study of co-creation in the municipality of the future”, Anja Ruess and Ruth Müller address precisely these questions. Using the example of a co-creation initiative in Ulm, a medium-sized German municipality, the authors show how, despite authentic commitments to open inclusive co-creation, ideas and narratives about technological futures can substantially limit citizens’ scopes of action. While co-creation may appeal to the long-held desire to engage publics earlier in innovation processes, Anja Ruess and Ruth Müller’s research indicates that shifting the moment of engagement – from decision-making about adopting a technology to the recurring involvement of publics throughout innovation processes – does not ensure that these publics can actually influence the process.
The article was published in the Journal of Responsible Innovation in September 2024 and can be accessed here.
This work is based on material collected as part of the research initiative SCALINGS, which was supported by funding from the European Union’s Horizon 2020 research and innovation program [Grant Agreement No. 788359].