Download Coproduction and community planning

Co-production, the ‘core
economy’ and community
planning
Dr. John Barry
Queens University Belfast
[email protected]
Basic co-ordinating institutions of
human society
(Nation)-State – 300-400 years
Market – ‘truck and barter’ (c.12,000
years/settled agriculture), modern
industrial/capitalist economy (c.250
years)
Community – since we evolved as a
species of homo sapiens (c.50,000 years)
Co-production and the core
economy
 Distinguishing between ‘employment’ and work/labour –
not all socially necessary labour is monetised i.e. is not
formally paid employment (public or private);
 The ‘hidden’ economy upon which the formal (public and
private sector) economy is based;
 Different terms – ‘core economy’, ‘convivial economy’
‘informal economy’, ‘social economy’ – not all same but
all gesture towards productive labour/activity that is
beyond the public/state and private/market economy
The economy from a different
perspective
Co-production: what is it?
“Co-production means delivering public services in an
equal
and
reciprocal
relationship
between
professionals, people using services, their families
and their neighbours. Where activities are coproduced in this way, both services and
neighbourhoods become far more effective agents
of change.”
new economics foundation
“The involvement of citizens in the delivery of public
services to achieve outcomes, which depend at
least partly on their own behaviour and the assets
and resources they bring”
(Boviard, 2012)
Asset backed community
development and empowerment
Every person and every community is of
value and has something to contribute.
The task for statutory agencies is to work
with people and communities to identify and
build on the assets they have, helping them
to set their goals and aspirations and
assisting them to achieve them.
Genuine partnership working
Assets=Resources=Strengths
Financial – money, credit, savings;
Buildings – schools, church halls, roads;
Social – kith & kin, community, trust, networks of support;
Tools/equipment, books. IT, etc.
TIME!!
Personal – health & well being, education, experience, skills,
motivation, self esteem;
 Natural – environment, energy, natural resources,
greenspaces;
 Political – influence, power, active citizenship;
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Access is not equal, there are barriers beyond individual
control
Beyond orthodox economic
thinking
Because GDP measures only monetary transactions related to the
production of goods and services, it is based on an incomplete
picture the human economy.
The human economy is a sub-system of larger social networks and
ecosystem
A co-production perspective offer a more complete picture of how the
human economic system fits within the social and environmental
systems upon which it depends
By including the non-monetary social (and very often gendered)
context of core economic activity
The ‘Core Economy’ and Quality
of life
Beyond GDP and conventional
economic measurements
Measuring what matters
GDP/economic growth does
not distinguish between
positive and negative
economic activity (judged
in terms of human wellbeing)
Core economy helps support
relationships and social
capital and in that process
helps better public
services
Community planning and the
core economy
Co-production
 Community planning:
Opportunity for ‘asset
backed’ community
development
 Asset mapping – what
are the capacities, skills,
etc. of the community?
‘Values the capacity, skills,
knowledge connections and
potential in a community…
sees citizens and
communities as coproducers of health and
well being (and) instead
of doing things for
people shares power and
helps a community to do
things for itself’
(Improvement and
Development Agency, 2010)
Co-production and community planning
Building on people’s existing capabilities: altering the delivery
model and mindset within public services from a ‘deficit’ approach
to one that provides opportunities to develop people’s capabilities
at an individual and community level;
People as ‘active citizens’: and neither passive consumers or
rate/tax payers and also co-production and community planning
as ways to repoliticise and democratise public services;
Valuing and promoting active citizenship (sometimes
oppositional) as a form of ‘caring/care labour’ for
democracy
Reciprocity, transparency and mutuality: offering people a range
of incentives to engage which enable reciprocal relationships with
professionals and with each other, where there are mutual
responsibilities, agreed expectations and greater degrees of
transparency and communication
Co-production and community
planning
Partnership between statutory and non-statutory
organisations: relations of equality, respect and mutual
learning and sharing.
Experts/professionals – ‘on tap not on top’: as facilitators
of community change not drivers of it
Importance of trust and partnership – not wasting people’s
time and energy, beyond passive consultation on service
delivery towards genuine and demonstrable participation
and co-decision-making
Creating resilient and empowered communities
Conclusion
Co-production and community planning: from ‘no taxation
without representation’ to
‘no taxation/public service provision without participation’?
Some resources
Co-production practioners’ network:
www.coproductionnetwork.com
New economics foundation: http://www.neweconomics.org/