Periodic Reporting for period 2 - MOSAIC (Mission-Oriented SwafS to Advance Innovation through Co-creation)
Periodo di rendicontazione: 2022-07-01 al 2023-12-31
In the contemporary landscape, our world struggles with increasingly urgent health and environmental challenges, necessitating concrete and innovative solutions. While science and innovation continually rise to address these global issues, existing efforts may not be sufficient to tackle the complex and serious wicked problems we confront. The MOSAIC project underscores the imperative of involving multiple stakeholders in the developmental process of solutions, placing a significant emphasis on engaging citizens. By providing tangible examples and showcasing their added value, MOSAIC illustrates the potential for impactful solutions in the face of climate-related challenges.
A dynamic co-creation processes has been implemented in two European cities: Gothenburg, Sweden, and Milan, Italy. Each city undertook a distinct climate-related challenge, focusing on sustainable mobility in Gothenburg and enhancing accessibility to information on air pollution and its health implications in Milan. Groups comprising citizens, private companies, city representatives, and researchers collaborated together during several months to develop solutions. The strength of these co-developed solutions lies in their increased potential to lead to impactful, acceptable and inclusive changes within cities, as they encompass the needs and expectations of all stakeholders involved. This approach proves particularly relevant in offering concrete pathways for cities to involve residents in pivotal future developments related to climate challenges.
MOSAIC, through its multifaceted contributions, stands as a best practice for integrating societal needs, stakeholder engagement, and innovative co-creation methodologies in addressing contemporary challenges
A dynamic co-creation processes has been implemented in two European cities: Gothenburg, Sweden, and Milan, Italy. Each city undertook a distinct climate-related challenge, focusing on sustainable mobility in Gothenburg and enhancing accessibility to information on air pollution and its health implications in Milan. Groups comprising citizens, private companies, city representatives, and researchers collaborated together during several months to develop solutions. The strength of these co-developed solutions lies in their increased potential to lead to impactful, acceptable and inclusive changes within cities, as they encompass the needs and expectations of all stakeholders involved. This approach proves particularly relevant in offering concrete pathways for cities to involve residents in pivotal future developments related to climate challenges.
MOSAIC, through its multifaceted contributions, stands as a best practice for integrating societal needs, stakeholder engagement, and innovative co-creation methodologies in addressing contemporary challenges
Partners involved in MOSAIC have shown resilience and adaptability in addressing challenges. Frequent adjustments were made to align with the Climate Neutral and Smart Cities Mission timeline, addressing obstacles encountered by the city administrations involved. The project successfully delivered all its activities and tasks while maintaining an active and positive flow of information among project partners.
Policy recommendations constitute a key outcome of MOSAIC, primarily targeting Mission Cities. Over 20 such cities have already benefitted from insights into the advantages of co-creation in addressing climate neutrality challenges. The dissemination of MOSAIC recommendations has spanned multiple channels and events, including presentations at the EC’s European Week of Regions and Cities and the Festival of the New European Bauhaus. Collaborations have been fostered with the NetZeroCities initiative, the official Mission support action. The involvement of the ERRIN (European Regions Research and Innovation) Network has played a key role in building a wide MOSAIC Community of Practice.
Tools and methods, another key outcome, have been crafted to provide professionals working on climate-related challenges with accessible and tested approaches. MOSAIC offers an easy-to-use co-creation Cookbook linked to a detailed Toolkit. These resources guide readers step by step through co-creation implementation, highlighting potential challenges and encouraging reflection on expected impacts. The MOSAIC co-creation methodology has undergone successful testing in two cities, producing valuable outcomes. The tools and methods developed by MOSAIC are not limited to the project duration; they are set to be utilized for example in training modules offered by the project coordinator, Stickydot, to institutions such as research performing, funding, and transfer organizations. MOSAIC cities have expressed a commitment to applying or replicating similar co-creation processes in the future.
Scientific outcomes are also an important project result. Findings from the analysis of multi-stakeholder co-creation processes and their impacts have been presented at academic conferences, including the annual conference of the European Association for the Study of Science and Technology (EASST). Additionally, at least eight scientific publications, still under review, will contribute to the body of knowledge in this domain. Collaborations with other research projects and initiatives have been cultivated, for example through exchanges with EU-funded projects and academic partners in the Super Morri project. MOSAIC results have not only been shared within Europe but have also made a global impact, with presentations at the Conference of the Network for the Popularisation of Science and Technology in Latin America and the Caribbean (RedPOP) in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil.
Policy recommendations constitute a key outcome of MOSAIC, primarily targeting Mission Cities. Over 20 such cities have already benefitted from insights into the advantages of co-creation in addressing climate neutrality challenges. The dissemination of MOSAIC recommendations has spanned multiple channels and events, including presentations at the EC’s European Week of Regions and Cities and the Festival of the New European Bauhaus. Collaborations have been fostered with the NetZeroCities initiative, the official Mission support action. The involvement of the ERRIN (European Regions Research and Innovation) Network has played a key role in building a wide MOSAIC Community of Practice.
Tools and methods, another key outcome, have been crafted to provide professionals working on climate-related challenges with accessible and tested approaches. MOSAIC offers an easy-to-use co-creation Cookbook linked to a detailed Toolkit. These resources guide readers step by step through co-creation implementation, highlighting potential challenges and encouraging reflection on expected impacts. The MOSAIC co-creation methodology has undergone successful testing in two cities, producing valuable outcomes. The tools and methods developed by MOSAIC are not limited to the project duration; they are set to be utilized for example in training modules offered by the project coordinator, Stickydot, to institutions such as research performing, funding, and transfer organizations. MOSAIC cities have expressed a commitment to applying or replicating similar co-creation processes in the future.
Scientific outcomes are also an important project result. Findings from the analysis of multi-stakeholder co-creation processes and their impacts have been presented at academic conferences, including the annual conference of the European Association for the Study of Science and Technology (EASST). Additionally, at least eight scientific publications, still under review, will contribute to the body of knowledge in this domain. Collaborations with other research projects and initiatives have been cultivated, for example through exchanges with EU-funded projects and academic partners in the Super Morri project. MOSAIC results have not only been shared within Europe but have also made a global impact, with presentations at the Conference of the Network for the Popularisation of Science and Technology in Latin America and the Caribbean (RedPOP) in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil.
As a Research and Innovation Action, MOSAIC strives to establish new knowledge. Project partners have developed and tested a new methodological approach for quadruple-helix co-creation, focusing specifically on mission-related contexts. In these scenarios, city officials and other actors struggle with complex challenges that necessitate an ecosystem perspective. MOSAIC's co-creation approach is poised to be adopted by regions and cities in the future to develop innovative services and products. By engaging citizens, private companies, and researchers in the identification, prototyping, and testing of solutions, this approach demonstrates its potential to contribute to societal needs and desired futures.
The project has strong societal implications as it paves the way for innovation to be better shaped around society’s needs. The co-creation experiences of MOSAIC pilot cities Gothenburg and Milan represent a valuable contribution to showcasing how citizen engagement in open innovation processes can bring added value to the identification of shared solutions to climate neutrality challenges. The tested MOSAIC co-creation approach can lead to positive socio-economic impacts by contributing to avoiding failures in cities’ policy implementation as well as R&I’s knowledge valorisation processes. It also contributes to fostering a stronger collaborative environment in cities, where growing tensions around sometimes unpopular governance measures to tackle pollution can lead to conflictual reactions and the strengthening of inequalities. For example, by involving private companies in the co-creation process, MOSAIC contributes to generating a stronger commitment of industrial players in recognising and supporting wider societal needs and desired futures, moving beyond the consumer-oriented approach they typically focus on.
Another noteworthy progression in MOSAIC lies in its anticipation of outcomes and impacts as part of co-creation activities. This innovative approach, embedding formative evaluation in the co-creation process, marks a difference from the existing use of formative evaluation in research and innovation evaluations. The team responsible for impact assessment within the project has written a scientific paper, drawing on the state of the art in "social learning," to explore how real-time impact assessment can steer co-creation activities toward mission-oriented contributions. The paper will be submitted to a tier-one journal such as Research Evaluation, contributing to the scientific knowledge in responsible research and innovation (RRI).
The project has strong societal implications as it paves the way for innovation to be better shaped around society’s needs. The co-creation experiences of MOSAIC pilot cities Gothenburg and Milan represent a valuable contribution to showcasing how citizen engagement in open innovation processes can bring added value to the identification of shared solutions to climate neutrality challenges. The tested MOSAIC co-creation approach can lead to positive socio-economic impacts by contributing to avoiding failures in cities’ policy implementation as well as R&I’s knowledge valorisation processes. It also contributes to fostering a stronger collaborative environment in cities, where growing tensions around sometimes unpopular governance measures to tackle pollution can lead to conflictual reactions and the strengthening of inequalities. For example, by involving private companies in the co-creation process, MOSAIC contributes to generating a stronger commitment of industrial players in recognising and supporting wider societal needs and desired futures, moving beyond the consumer-oriented approach they typically focus on.
Another noteworthy progression in MOSAIC lies in its anticipation of outcomes and impacts as part of co-creation activities. This innovative approach, embedding formative evaluation in the co-creation process, marks a difference from the existing use of formative evaluation in research and innovation evaluations. The team responsible for impact assessment within the project has written a scientific paper, drawing on the state of the art in "social learning," to explore how real-time impact assessment can steer co-creation activities toward mission-oriented contributions. The paper will be submitted to a tier-one journal such as Research Evaluation, contributing to the scientific knowledge in responsible research and innovation (RRI).