Southampton Coproduction Corner is our network for people who want a safe space to explore working together through coproduction processes. Coproduction is all about working together as equals to develop policy and design / deliver services.
Our journey so far:
See our powerpoint about the project: Rebecca Kinge Coproduction presentation 070624 without video
Here is a summary of activities:
- September 2023 – Southampton Voluntary Services put a call out to anyone interested in getting together to talk about coproduction. We explored what people would like to do, and the group decided on the idea of a “Coproduction Corner”, a safe place to explore coproduction issues together. We started to explore what makes people feel welcome when getting involved in something new. More details here: Working together in “Coproduction Corners” – Southampton Voluntary Services (southamptonvs.org.uk)
- November 2023 – Southampton Voluntary Services (project contact Rebecca Kinge) and University of Southampton (lead contact Dr Lucy Green) secured some funding from New Things Fund from Centre for Policy South to trial some themed chats on a couple of health and care issues, followed by Coproduction Corner sessions to explore how to people’s voices can lead to real policy and service change in the health and care system.
- December 2023 – During Coproduction Friday Forum, we explored what makes a welcome, safe and brave space, and together identified some key topics to progress. These were then taken as the basis for the New Things Funded conversations. More details here: Co-production Corner — Centre for the South
- January 2024 onwards – we started to develop conversations with a few local “community animators” who have experience of running inclusive community buildings. Throughout the next months, we worked together to design workshops that local people, including those who are not necessarily usually involved in health and care decision making, can feel willing to be involved with. A key part of this was working on ethics applications with the University of Southampton.
- February 2024 – through New Things Fund work, we developed the vision and aims of our coproduction work. We want to (1) build a coproduction community (2) explore local people’s perspectives on important issues that are identified through our coproduction community (3) develop a shared understanding of coproduction and (4) make a plan for embedding coproduction into future activities.
- More details here: Southampton Coproduction Corner: what’s happening in Spring 2024 – Southampton Voluntary Services (southamptonvs.org.uk)
- March 2024 – During this Coproduction Corner where we trialled a few techniques “leave your label at the door”, “Collective Patterning” and introduced the idea of “Design for Wiser Action”. More details here: Southampton Coproduction Corner: what’s happening in Spring 2024 – Southampton Voluntary Services (southamptonvs.org.uk)
- April 2024 – This Coproduction Corner session focused on trying out a Design for Wiser Action approach. Everybody who came had the chance to host a discussion about a project that was of interest to them. In the end, four projects were explored in more detail. Read our blog to find out more. Coproduction Corner in April 2024 – so what happened? – Southampton Voluntary Services (southamptonvs.org.uk)
- We are developing some thoughts on what makes a good co-host of a coproduction session or indeed any other event. Share your views here: https://forms.office.com/e/MCm49WMJQj
- June 2024 – Southampton Voluntary Services’ Friday Forum on 7 June 2024 gave an opportunity for local Voluntary, Community and Social Enterprise organisations to showcase their work which has involved people to develop policy or design/deliver services. The write up of the event is here: Friday Forum Coproduction Showcase 07.06.24 – Southampton Voluntary Services (southamptonvs.org.uk)
- July 2024 – On 12 July at 11am, members of the Southampton Coproduction Corner community will come together to decide on policy recommendations, based on the conversations that we have been having over the last 10 months. Book here: https://forms.office.com/e/yTVnJJ0Q23
- We share useful coproduction resources that are raised through our Southampton Coproduction Community here : Resources to inspire us around working together – Southampton Voluntary Services (southamptonvs.org.uk)
- Next steps: we are working with Board in the City, Monty’s Communty Hub and Veracity Life to design workshops on the chosen themes of (1) teenage girls in parks and (2) the barriers to accessing help for trauma victims.
- We will share news of the date of the next Coproduction Corner event later in the year.
Who is in the Southampton Coproduction Corner community?
The idea is that anyone could get involved, and they can sign up to our mailing list for updates, hosted by Rebecca Kinge from Southampton Voluntary Services. As of May 2024 we have 60 people signed up on the mailing list, who are informed of get-togethers. Events are attended by a mixture of (1) individuals, (2) people involved in a range of Voluntary, Community and Social Enterprise (VCSE) organisations and groups, (3) colleagues from Southampton City Council, (4) colleagues from University of Southampton, (5) NHS staff and (6) business development organisations. We would like to welcome more people who want to be part of this growing coproduction community. We realise we have particular gaps around engagement with local businesses, government organisations, education, culture, heritage and arts settings.
How to get involved
Get in touch and come along! Tell us what you think. Talk to Rebecca or anyone in the Coproduction Corner team. Anyone can help host a Coproduction Corner session, although to date all of the invites have come from Southampton Voluntary Services. People can also hear about the sessions via SVS newsletter sent out by Rob Kurn, Chief Executive.
What difference are we making?
We are working with Owl XL and well as the University of Southampton (main contact is Lucy Green) to evaluate the impact of what we are doing. We ask people for feedback on our events and activities which feeds into the design of the next steps. We are keen to explore new ways of working to make sure that everyone can have a say and feel like it is their community.
We hope, ultimately, that we can support people to feel more supported to trial and deliver coproduction techniques in their work, projects and activities, so local people and their real needs are put at the heart of all decision making in the city.