Cocoso · Co-construction in the field of social welfare

COCOSO brings together 6 universities and 16 partners from the non-governmental and public sectors. This industrial doctoral network is dedicated to participation and co-construction as a core dimension of democracy and innovation in social welfare. Doctoral research and training are designed to address the pressing demand for meaningful and efficient participation of citizens involved in social services and policies: services users, practitioners, managers, decision and policy-makers. Citizens experiencing welfare systems are often subject to one or several factors of inequality and vulnerability, which directly or indirectly hinders their participation. To effectively address contemporary challenges in co-construction of social policies and practices requires the following steps: - identify different perspectives on participation and co-construction; - overcome power, trust and management barriers to embed co-construction in policies and services;- address limitations in co-construction due to vulnerability and cross-sectionality; - enhance the potential of digital tools for participation.These tasks will be fulfilled by researchers under close collaboration and supervision of senior academic and industrial partners from different disciplines including social policy, education, sociology, management and history; as well as different sectors such as local authorities and non-for-profit social organisations. Cocoso will thus contribute to develop: (a) research- and practice-based evidence and knowledge about barriers and facilitators to co-construction; (b) edge-cutting methods to embed co-construction in practice and collaborative research (networking of universities, NGOs, users, local authorities) and(c) effective implementation of co-construction by highly skilled researchers who will be well prepared to face the challenges experienced by organisations and policy-makers in their relationships with vulnerable citizens.