SCN Online Learning Event : Co-production and Responding to Covid-19

Event report

Community organisations and public services have faced unprecedented challenges as they have worked to respond to the covid-19 outbreak. 

But how much has co-production been part of that response and what have we learned? Our recent online learning event brought more than 25 network members together to discuss these questions and share their examples, learning and ideas about the role of co-production in this emergency response - but also in how we build back better. 

During the session we heard from three network members who have been working through co-productive approaches during the pandemic. We heard from:

·       Louise Christie, Scottish Recovery Network

·       Diane Graham, Healthcare Improvement Scotland 

·       Hannah Dickson, Scottish Community Safety Network

We heard about the new opportunities and challenges of working in this way during the pandemic and it was clear how important the move to ways of bringing people together virtually has been. 

Breakout group discussions

Technology

Technology was a big part of our discussion. How much can we rely on it to bring people together to help forge the relationships required for good co-production to happen? We’ve seen how Zoom calls have replaced face-to-face reaction in lots of positive ways, as well as have enabling more people to come together in ways they might not have done before. But not everyone is able to embrace this technology, with issues around access and affordability.

We also heard how some groups are reverting to ‘old technology’ – writing letters, posting information, making phone calls - so there are traditional lines of communication that are working for people too.

It highlights how there is not a ‘one-size fits all’ solution or engagement method for all issues or situations. It’s important to use a range of methods to involve people in conversations and processes.

Sustainability

There was also discussion around the longer-term impact of the pandemic, especially economic, as job losses start to hit and budgets become further strained. What happens to co-production as an approach when it often requires additional time and resource to carry out effectively? Here, network members spoke about the importance of embedding co-productive approaches into the way we work going forward, and how funders can move towards more of a relationship based approach, removing red tape and investing in co-production approaches that celebrate and build on the amazing responses we’ve seen with and by communities in tackling the issues caused by the pandemic. 

Positive signs

There have been many positives in how people have responded. We heard discussion around good examples of cross-sector working that built on previous strong relationships and these have developed further through joint working during the pandemic. Local Authorities and Third Sector Interfaces are using this to inform their route map moving forward. Some authorities are engaging with their communities/volunteers to find out about their experiences of the past few months and what will help as they start to build forward. We’re looking to hearing how this progresses and if it leads to more co-productive work.

Private sector

Questions raised about the involvement of the private sector – there is still a fairly big disconnect between the private sector (particularly the big corporates) and the public/voluntary/community sector. This is not about a lack of willingness but more a lack of information (within the private sector) about who to contact and how to go about it. There could be good opportunities to work more with private sector organisations if there are clear gains for communities in doing so.

Going forward

Through our discussions it became clear that, despite the pandemic and the challenges this presents, the enthusiasm and drive for co-production is still going strong. We’ve had to adapt to this new normal with extraordinary speed and under intense pressure, and in many cases it’s been a clear success.

What’s less clear is how we can continue to sustain this approach, especially as the longer term impact (whether that’s lost funding or having to use zoom for longer than we’d like) is so unclear. There’s a danger that whilst we’re still busy reacting and responding individually and organisationally to meet the needs of the people we work with, we’re missing an opportunity to speak with a collective voice about what building back better means for us all. 

To help make more sense of this and maximise opportunities to promote better ways of working, it was agreed that we would continue this conversation between members to explore some of these questions further and develop the key lessons learned to share with, funders, policy and decision makers over the coming months. 

SCN will be in touch with members about arrangements for this in the coming weeks. 

Thanks to everyone to contributed to the session.