Culture driven co-creation: Guidelines for Super Moderators in U_CODE project

Abstract

The U_CODE (Urban Collective Design Environment) project started to create an environment for urban co-creation with citizen. To achieve this, U_CODE has designed and developed a new kind of participatory platform for different European countries. To have an effective co-creation session, U_CODE facilitators need to have a good knowledge and understanding of different culture and values that can affect the co-creation sessions. The purpose of this project is to design guidelines for Super Moderators (SuMo) in U_CODE project to facilitate the co-creation sessions in the Netherlands, Germany, and France. First, I reviewed the literature to find the cultural differences in three countries based on available cultural dimensions models. Then, I made a blueprint for co-creation sessions using U_CODE documents and interview I had with U_CODE specialist. Adding the cultural differences to the blueprint, I made guidelines for each of three countries, which was validated by professional facilitators. Then, I ideated some concepts to find the most effective interaction between the guidelines and facilitators. I tested the concepts with interaction designers who had an experience in facilitating co-creation sessions. Based on the feedbacks and the company’s priority, I designed an app for the guidelines. Finally, I evaluated the final design with a culture professional, an international facilitator and a corporate facilitator. This report is concluded with a discussion and a list of limitations and recommendations for this project.