Imagine you want to build something new — a product, a service, even a city policy — but instead of guessing what people need, you actually sit down with them and design it together. That's co-creation, and it sounds simple but usually falls apart because nobody knows how to run the process well. SISCODE studied how maker spaces, living labs, and community hubs across 13 European countries actually pull off co-creation, then built a practical toolkit of design methods that organizations can use to go from "we have an idea" to "here's a working prototype" with real public input baked in.
Most organizations know they should involve customers, citizens, or end-users in developing new products and policies, but public engagement usually stalls at the feedback-collection stage. Companies run surveys and workshops that generate ideas but never turn them into anything real. The gap between "we asked people what they want" and "we built something that works" costs organizations time, credibility, and missed market opportunities.
SISCODE produced a co-design methodology toolkit including prototyping methods and policy envisioning tools, validated across 13 countries. Key deliverables include working prototypes of solutions and policies, and an analysis of co-creation ecosystems (fab labs, living labs, smart cities) with 29 total deliverables documenting the approach.
If you are an innovation consultancy struggling to move client workshops beyond sticky-note exercises — SISCODE developed a structured co-design methodology tested across 13 countries that takes co-creation from vague ideation all the way to working prototypes. The toolkit draws on real cases from 18 partner organizations and can be embedded in your service offering.
If you are a city agency trying to involve citizens in urban planning but public consultations keep producing complaints instead of solutions — SISCODE mapped effective co-creation ecosystems and produced prototyping methods that turn citizen input into implementable policy proposals. The approach was validated across labs in 13 countries.
If you are an R&D department that runs user research but struggles to translate findings into actual product changes — SISCODE built a co-design process that bridges ideation and implementation through iterative prototyping. The methods were developed with input from 3 industry partners and 4 SMEs in the consortium.
The project did not publish pricing or licensing fees for its methodology toolkit. Since SISCODE was publicly funded research, the co-design frameworks and guides are likely available as open-access outputs. Implementation costs would depend on training staff and adapting the methods to your context.
SISCODE studied co-creation ecosystems across 13 countries and 18 partner organizations, so the methods were designed with scalability and replication in mind. The project specifically analyzed conditions that support effective introduction, scalability and replication of co-creation practices.
Based on available project data, SISCODE was a publicly funded Research and Innovation Action. The deliverables — including methodology guides and prototyping tools — are typically made available under open-access terms. No patents or proprietary licensing were indicated.
The project ran co-creation experiments over a 3-year period (2018-2021) and produced 29 deliverables including working prototypes of solutions and policies. Based on available project data, individual co-design cycles moved from envisioning through to prototypes within the project timeline.
SISCODE explicitly addressed policy-making environments where co-creation faces barriers like resistance to change and organizational constraints. The project developed methods to overcome barriers in science, technology, and innovation policy — one of the most regulated co-creation contexts.
The co-design methods were specifically built to be embedded into existing organizational processes. SISCODE studied the transformations needed to integrate co-creation into established policy-making and innovation workflows, including overcoming institutional resistance.
The SISCODE consortium brings together 18 partners from 13 countries, led by Politecnico di Milano — one of Europe's top design and engineering universities. The mix leans heavily academic and institutional: 5 universities, 3 research organizations, and 7 other organizations (likely public bodies and NGOs), with only 3 industry partners and 4 SMEs (17% industry ratio). This composition is typical for a policy-oriented research project and means the outputs are strong on methodology and evidence but may need translation work before a business can plug them in directly. The geographic spread across 13 countries is a strength — it means the co-design methods were tested in diverse cultural and regulatory contexts, not just one country's way of doing things.
Politecnico di Milano, Italy — search for SISCODE project lead in the university's Design department
Want to apply SISCODE's co-design methods in your organization? SciTransfer can connect you with the research team and help adapt the methodology to your specific industry context.
