CASIC welcomed Dr Liz Richardson who presented a seminar with the title - Ten features of more co-productive approaches to policy.

Abstract: Traditional ways of designing policy are inadequate to cope with challenges of ever-increasing complexity. They also fail to satisfy calls for citizens to be seen as equal problem solvers on pressing issues of public policy. Drawing on ideas about power, Durose and Richardson explore how genuine democratic involvement in the policy process from those outside the elites of politics and technocracy can shape society for the better. Blending academic literature with grounded insights from practitioners, policy-makers, activists and actively engaged academics, a case is advanced for co-production as an alternative. The talk presents a framework and series of 10 guiding principles for more co-productive approaches to policy. They aim to take co-production beyond the ‘inspiring yet marginal’.

Durose, C. and Richardson, L. (2016) Designing public policy for coproduction, Bristol: The Policy Press

Bio: Liz Richardson is Senior Lecturer in Politics and Director of Undergraduate Studies for Politics at the University of Manchester. She is a Visiting Fellow in the Centre for Analysis of Social Exclusion (CASE) at the London School of Economics. Her research interests include: civic participation; neighbourhood governance; local politics and local government; public services; and public policy. She has an interest in methodological innovation including field experiments, and other participatory research approaches. Her academic work has been published in journals such as the British Journal of Politics and International Relations, Social Science Quarterly, Parliamentary Affairs, and Policy and Politics. Her latest book, Designing public policy for coproduction, was published by Policy Press in 2016. Co-authored with Catherine Durose, the book integrates theory and vignettes from policy-makers and practitioners to argue for a fundamental re-design towards more citizen-centric public policy processes.