SCALINGS · Project

How to Run Co-Creation Programs That Actually Work Across Different European Markets

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Imagine you've got a great recipe for getting companies, cities, and citizens to build products together — like a living lab or innovation hub. It works brilliantly in Denmark but flops in Spain. Why? SCALINGS studied three types of co-creation programs across 10 European countries, specifically in robotics and urban energy, to figure out what makes these collaborations succeed or fail depending on local culture, regulations, and market conditions. They turned the findings into a practical EU policy roadmap and a training boot camp so others can avoid the expensive trial-and-error.

By the numbers

European countries studied in comparative analysis

co-creation instruments analyzed (public procurement, co-creation facilities, living labs)

technical domains covered (robotics and urban energy)

consortium partners across 9 countries

24+

European co-creation initiatives integrated as empirical partners

The business problem

What needed solving

Companies and cities running co-creation programs (living labs, innovation hubs, citizen engagement) often find that what works in one European country fails in another. There has been no systematic evidence on why co-creation instruments succeed or fail under different cultural, regulatory, and market conditions — leading to expensive failed rollouts when organizations try to scale their innovation programs across borders.

The solution

What was built

SCALINGS delivered a comparative dataset from 10 countries on 3 co-creation instruments, an EU Policy Roadmap for scaling co-creation, a trial training boot camp on co-creation across cultural differences, and university educational programs on co-creation methods. Total of 7 deliverables were produced.

Audience

Who needs this

Innovation consultancies running multi-country co-creation programsCity governments and smart city offices piloting citizen engagement in energy or roboticsEnterprise Europe Network advisors helping SMEs enter new markets through co-creationLiving lab operators and science park managers expanding across bordersEU project coordinators designing co-creation work packages for multi-country consortia

Business applications

Who can put this to work

Innovation Consulting

SME

Target: Innovation consultancies and living lab operators managing multi-country co-creation programs

If you are an innovation consultancy running co-creation workshops or living labs across multiple European countries — this project produced comparative evidence from 10 countries showing which co-creation instruments transfer well and which need local adaptation. Their training boot camp on co-creation in diverse settings could save you months of trial-and-error when entering new markets.

Urban Energy

enterprise

Target: City energy utilities and smart city program managers

If you are a city energy company piloting citizen co-creation for urban energy solutions — this project studied how public procurement of innovation and living labs perform differently across European cultures. Their findings from 2 technical domains including urban energy can help you design engagement programs that actually get buy-in from local communities instead of importing models that don't fit.

Robotics

mid-size

Target: Robotics companies seeking public acceptance through user involvement

If you are a robotics company trying to co-develop products with end users across European markets — this project ran coordinated cross-country experiments in robotics co-creation across 10 countries. Their 'socially robust scaling' approach helps you understand whether your user-involvement process from one market will work in another before you invest in rolling it out.

Frequently asked

Quick answers

What would this cost us to implement?

SCALINGS produced research frameworks, a policy roadmap, and training programs — not commercial software or tools. The boot camp training format could potentially be licensed or commissioned. Based on available project data, no pricing or cost model was published.

Can this scale to our operations across multiple countries?

Scaling across countries is exactly what this project studied. They compared 3 co-creation instruments across 10 countries, specifically to answer whether 'best practices' transfer to new markets. Their findings are designed for organizations operating across diverse European cultural and regulatory contexts.

What about IP and licensing?

As an RIA (Research and Innovation Action) project, results are typically publicly available. The training boot camp materials and policy roadmap were developed as public goods. Based on available project data, no patents or proprietary tools were produced.

Is the training program still available?

The project closed in July 2021. The boot camp trial was implemented as a deliverable. Based on available project data, the project website at scalings.eu may still host materials, but ongoing availability would need to be confirmed with the coordinator at TU Munich.

How is this different from generic innovation consulting?

Most innovation advice is one-size-fits-all. SCALINGS is the first rigorous comparative study across 10 countries that shows empirically how cultural, societal, and regulatory differences affect co-creation outcomes. This is evidence-based, not opinion-based guidance for cross-border innovation programs.

What concrete outputs can we use?

The project delivered an EU Policy Roadmap for co-creation, a training boot camp program on co-creation across cultural differences, and university educational programs. They also developed 2 analytical approaches — situated co-creation and socially robust scaling — documented through 7 deliverables.

Consortium

Who built it

The SCALINGS consortium of 14 partners across 9 countries is overwhelmingly academic — 11 universities, 1 research organization, and 2 other entities, with zero dedicated industry partners and just 1 SME. The 0% industry ratio means this project was designed as a research exercise, not a technology transfer pipeline. For a business looking to use these results, the lack of commercial partners means there is no ready-made service provider. However, TU Munich as coordinator brings strong institutional credibility, and the project's integration with over two dozen external co-creation initiatives provided real-world grounding that a purely academic study would lack.

TECHNISCHE UNIVERSITAET MUENCHENCoordinator · DE
SOCIAL INNOVATION EXCHANGEparticipant · UK
IMPERIAL COLLEGE OF SCIENCE TECHNOLOGY AND MEDICINEparticipant · UK
UNIWERSYTET EKONOMICZNY WE WROCLAWIUparticipant · PL
FUNDACION ESADEparticipant · ES
ECOLE POLYTECHNIQUE FEDERALE DE LAUSANNEparticipant · CH
ASSOCIATION POUR LA RECHERCHE ET LE DEVELOPPEMENT DES METHODES ET PROCESSUS INDUSTRIELSparticipant · FR
THE INTERNATIONAL SOCIETY FOR PROFESSIONAL INNOVATION MANAGEMENT LTDparticipant · UK
UNIVERSITAET FUER BODENKULTUR WIENparticipant · AT
DANMARKS TEKNISKE UNIVERSITETparticipant · DK
UNIVERSITAET GRAZparticipant · AT
UNIVERSITY COLLEGE LONDONparticipant · UK
TECHNISCHE UNIVERSITEIT EINDHOVENparticipant · NL
ECOLE NATIONALE SUPERIEURE DES MINES DE PARISthirdparty · FR

How to reach the team

Reach the coordinator through TU Munich (Technische Universität München), Germany — the lead institution for this 14-partner consortium.

Order a report on this consortium See TECHNISCHE UNIVERSITAET MUENCHEN profile →

Next steps

Talk to the team behind this work.

Want to know if SCALINGS' cross-cultural co-creation findings apply to your innovation program? SciTransfer can assess relevance and arrange a briefing with the research team.

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