Since its inception in 2008, SEI York’s citizen science research group has been at the cutting-edge of the field, both developing projects and consulting on others. At the recent ECSA conference, members of the research group capitalized on this long-standing expertise to lead a discussion session for participants who used or were wanting to use co-creation in their work.

Using thought-provoking discussion prompts, the session was structured around three key themes:

• Engaging with underrepresented groups: taking time to get to know communities and their local leaders, being physically present where participants are, and being flexible around participants’ needs.
• Local barriers: acknowledging power dynamics, being attuned to structural barriers and paying attention to how co-creation opportunities are publicized.
• Legacy: planning for the project’s legacy is crucial to non-extractive and non-exploitative co-creation.

Rhys Archer continues to work on three key areas which link all of the above: building trust; community and time. If you would like to be involved in ongoing discussions, please get in touch.