MOSAIC – translating co-creation theory to practice

We live in a time when it’s more important than ever to find real solutions to our environmental challenges and we need all of society to be actively engaged. Through co-creation, we can formulate both challenges and solutions by grounding them in lived experiences and by pooling the collective knowledge of our communities. When citizens, organisations, industry, experts, and decision-makers work together, we get solutions that are not just sustainable, but also inclusive, realistic, and effective.

Addressing two challenges in one project

One weakness of Gothenburg’s work with the green transition, as identified when preparing the application to be one of the EU’s 100 climate-neutral and smart cities in 2022, was the lack of including the voices of citizens in our process. This mapping process also established that it was essential for Gothenburg to reduce our urban emissions to reach climate neutrality. Given both these challenges, our pilot explored the question: "How can we co-develop inclusive mobility that meets personal needs, is affordable, comfortable and reliable?".

It was explored through several separate workshops, across three different teams made up of stakeholders representing citizens, researchers, policy makers, industry, and civil society. The teams were put together following an open application process and discussed solutions to co-created concrete questions such as:

• What would make your life better mobility-wise?
• What could fit your mobility needs, while also decreasing your carbon footprint?
• What would improve the user-friendliness and aesthetics of mobility in the neighbourhood?

Social incentives and human-centered services

All solutions developed focused on two key aspects which represent strong enablers of the city desired changes towards climate transition: the need for social incentives which could motivate people to act differently in their mobility patterns, and the need for better and more human-centred services at local level. These were the three main ideas that emerged from the groups' work:

1. The creation of Mobility Hubs which could allow for better and safer mixed transportation solutions, while also representing spaces where offices and various types of community activities could be organised, therefore considerably reducing the need for long commuting.
2. An enhanced form of carpooling with a social component, allowing users to share rides with people sharing similar taste in various things, similar jobs, or wanting to meet new people.
3. Replacing parking areas with local community spaces which could represent a location for a variety of activities, all focused on socialisation and community services which are rarely available in decentralised neighbourhoods.

The city is currently looking into ways to incorporate these suggestions in its future mobility planning.

Delivering towards ambitions

Being a pilot city for the MOSAIC project delivered in line with the commitments made by the city under the EU Mission 100 climate-neutral and smart cities; to step-up the city’s involvement citizens in our road to climate neutrality.

The project also delivered towards the city’s integrated democracy mission and towards the initiative Medborgarinflytande 2.0 (citizen influence 2.0).

Timeline

SEP 2022 – AUG 2023

Learn more about the project here.

Learn more about the Gothenburg pilot process

Contact

Kristina EBERTH – Planning Leader (Democracy)

Demokrati och medborgarservice

kristina.eberth@demokratimedborgarservice.goteborg.se