Invest in Authentic Co-design

Improve the way you work with stakeholders and deliver better projects.

Co-Design is a collaborative approach that actively involves a diverse stakeholder group (e.g. staff, partners, citizens, customers and end users) in a design process to create something that meets shared needs. 

When done well, the Co-Design process improves relationships and trust and allows for the seemingly impossible to happen: Alignment. 

So what does an effective co-design process actually look like? What makes it authentic, and therefore powerful? When should it be used and when should it not be used?

Join the Authentic Co-design team as they introduce you to their tried and true approach. 

In this course, we'll introduce you to several key elements of our co-design process: 

  • Five Principles 
  • The Authentic Co-design Framework and process
  • The Common Challenges of any co-design process.

Although co-design is a word that just gets thrown around a lot, the processes we see are not always 'authentic' (or even co-design). 

This course will introduce the key tools of an authentic process to ensure your organisation or project has an authentic process... one designed to be powerful and deliver better projects.  

A documented step-by-step process to help you and your teamwork with community and stakeholders (no matter how diverse, complex and divided they might be) is just a click away. 

Course curriculum

  • 1

    Welcome

    • Welcome to the course
  • 2

    What is Co-design?

    • What is co-design?

    • Further reading and resources

    • The benefits of Authentic Co-design

    • The benefits of co-design

    • Why is co-design great for complex issues?
  • 3

    Operating in an Authentic Co-design way

    • Authentic Co-design - section introduction

    • The Five Principles of Authentic Co-design

    • The Five Principles of Authentic Co-design

    • The Authentic Co-design Framework

    • The Authentic Co-design Framework

    • The Common Challenges

    • The Common Challenges
  • 4

    Organisational readiness and planning

    • Organisational readiness

    • Your checking readiness to collaborate activity

    • Planning and preparation - readiness to collaborate assessment tool

    • Your community planning tool activity

    • Planning and preparation - community planning tool
  • 5

    Conclusion and next steps

    • Conclusion

Your Instructors

Community and Stakeholder Engagement Specialist

Susan Carter

Susan is an accomplished stakeholder engagement, communications and strategy professional with experience in State and Local Government, infrastructure, research, tourism and environment organisations. Expertise includes the design, implementation and evaluation of online and offline engagement programs and tools for a broad range of stakeholder and organisational programs. Susan's expertise is teamed leadership and a broad range of skills across strategic communication, crisis communication, outrage management, behaviour change, relationship management, advocacy, stakeholder analysis, partnerships, community programs, facilitation, training, strategic planning and collaboration. Susan has the expertise to design engagement strategy and framework to suit your organisation and develop a culture of engagement through strategy, staff capability protocols and tools. 

Community and Collaboration Specialist

Max Hardy

I work with leaders and organisations to achieve results through collaboration. I focus on their toughest and most complex projects while building their ongoing capacity to collaborate and engage, across their organisation, with other organisations/stakeholders, and with their communities of interest.Working as a coach, facilitator, process designer, trainer and strategic advisor, my approach is to work with people where they are at, understand their unique, and not so unique, challenges, and to co-create new ways of responding to those challenges.

Dr Anthony Boxshall

Anthony is the Principal and Founder of Science into Action. He is an experienced Executive and Board level scientific leader with expertise in environmental, conservation and climate adaptation science and the practical application of science for decision-making. He has a science PhD and is a qualified Board Director. He is a Melbourne Enterprise Fellow at the University of Melbourne one day/week.  ​ Anthony works in the strategic decision-making space, helping align the delivery and content of strategies so they are implemented and used. He coaches leaders and helps others see signal in the noise to cut through for delivery. He is a strong, clear, and accountable facilitator. He has made a career of demystifying science for communities and all non-scientists. He is adept at co-design processes to enable clear decision-making that brings along all stakeholders.