Making It Real

How do we engage citizens/learner?

The practice is very engaging, using visual, interactive, flexible, and adaptable ways of creating space for creative conversations, as well as self- and organizational reflection. Participants are encouraged to further use the Making It Real practice in their own organisations, team meetings, reviews, and co-design events. Sometimes participants are negative at the start, but have a significant change of attitude during the session.

Which co-creation moments are included?

Participation in society, awareness as a citizen, being involved in the creative method, as well as adapting and improving it.

Pedagogic/methodological aspects

The practice can be entirely delivered by the organisations who sign up to it by living out the framework in their organisations. They are also welcome to access support in delivering it. To prepare, we ensure we understand the environment we are going into and work with people to ensure that we are facilitating in a way that makes sense to them. We support organisations to have conversations about applying the Making It Real framework, setting up goals and evaluating progress. We also support organisations to capture stories locally to evidence the impact of Making It Real. Impact is documented through stories, blogs, vlogs and Community Reporting and these are used for evaluation and assessment purposes too.

SWOT

Strength Its relational approach - it is about co-creating the right conditions, relationships, values, culture, language etc. Weakness The practice is sometimes misinterpreted as being ‘fluffy’. Opportunities It gives people permission to approach change from a human centred perspective, rather than a system centred perspective. Threats Alienating organisations – that said they are probably not the right organisations to be working with if they are alienated by the practice The biggest risk is not being able to meet demand.

Which aspects are transferable?

The whole practice is transferable because the focus is on co-creating the right conditions for co-production (or doing things differently) . The Making it Real framework is about people, and what they want to experience, people who access support and people who work in services. The statements are universal in their application and could be used in any ‘personcentred’ environment.

What kind of change is created?

Changed thinking, perception. Improved relationships. People being able to live ordinary lives with the support they need. Organisational development.

There is usually an immediately noticeable attitude shift. More tangible changes anything from days to years.

Making it real for municipalities

One example of success is working in a local authority in England to help them understand what Making It Real is. They have made a huge shift in thinking through facilitating conversations about what this means for them and then stepping back and allowing the group to develop the learning and conversations themselves; hosting events, and determining actions moving forward. Conclusion

Making It Real is a strong example of a Smart Practice because it is transferable, suited to many target groups, needs and circumstances. It’s also accessible and is fully adaptable to the requirements of each group. It improves communities and services, including people who access services in the process of shaping the services they use.

XYZ Lab

La Scuola Open Source, Federico Fumagalli

Organization and country: La Scuola Open Source, Italy Target group: all targets Age group: 18+ Context / Learning environment: non-formal education; Education sectors: communication, engineering, social innovation; Practical information: What materials are needed: a case study to work on Duration: 7 to 10 days Group Size: 40 to 60 people Level of difficulty for learners: basic

References, Link to the practice: https://lascuolaopensource.xyz/