Developing a lasting co-production framework and toolkit for Bracknell Forest Council, followed by ongoing training and mentoring to embed the practice council-wide.
The challenge
In late 2022, Bracknell Forest Council put out a call for support to develop its approach to co-production across the organisation. Ideas Alliance was appointed in December 2022 following a competitive tender and interview.
The brief combined a critical reflection element, bringing council staff together to take stock of how co-production was working in practice, with practical capability-building: training for staff and the creation of a lasting framework and toolkit to embed co-production as a way of working, rather than a one-off initiative.
What we did
We developed a co-production framework for Bracknell Forest Council, working iteratively with council officers and refining it through several rounds of feedback. Real council-officer quotes and case studies are woven throughout, so the framework reflects the council’s own experience rather than sitting apart from it.
Alongside the framework, we built a practical, accessible co-production toolkit, including worked personas, linked case studies, and bitesize practical guidance for staff applying co-production day-to-day.
We then delivered a structured training programme across 2023 to council staff and members of the Co-Production Network, covering both staff-facing and commissioner-facing sessions, with evaluations collected and reviewed after each round.
Once the framework and toolkit were established, the relationship continued into a second phase. This involved ongoing one-to-one and small-group mentoring for Bracknell Forest’s Thriving Communities community development workers and co-production leads, helping embed asset-based community development (ABCD) approaches and sustain co-production practice as staff and priorities evolved. This included sustained advisory input into the council’s wider co-production network and governance, and ad hoc strategic input as new co-production-related roles and programmes, such as the Thriving Communities programme, were established.
Our impact
The framework and toolkit gave Bracknell Forest a shared, practical reference point for co-production that has remained in active use well beyond the original contract, still being cited by the council three years on, and used as a touchstone when discussing co-production with neighbouring authorities and partners.
The mentoring relationship that followed enabled the Thriving Communities team to learn and practice how to engage with residents in a way that facilitated community led changes and listen deeply to people’s experiences. Most recently, they have been supported by Ideas Alliance to work together with Public Health and community members to gather insight on how more marginalised residents can be included in research.
