When you join the Co-production Network for Wales and subscribe to organisational membership, this involves nominating a number of co-production champions from within your team / organisation.
The role of a co-production champion is to engage on the learning journey of co-production and citizen involvement, to fly the flag and advocate for co-production, to link in to the wider community of practice at the Co-production Network for Wales, and to support colleagues and share knowledge and resources inside your organisation.
A champion isn’t the person who knows everything there is to know about co-production (is there even such a thing? we don’t think so), but someone who’s tapped into a wider network of learning and practice, that they have access to in order to find out more! You don’t have to have all the answers. By being a champion and maintaining a focus on your team’s co-production practice, you will be a bit more experienced and knowledgeable than some of your colleagues, who you can offer support to (inside and outside of your organisation). In turn, at the Co-production Network for Wales we’ve been bringing a focus to co-production for a while longer than you so we’re a bit more advanced in our practice and thinking, and we’re here to share and support you on your journey with what we know. We’re all learning how to do this well together.
Being a champion is something that you *are* because you’re interested in this, and you believe in the value of the approach, that it can make a positive impact for our services and our communities. Being a champion isn’t an extra load of things for you to *do*, but it is a way for you to support what you and your team are working on in terms of co-production and citizen involvement. We make support and resources available to you, and you dip in as little or as much as is helpful to you at this stage of the journey.
This may vary over time. There is no pressure to do it all, there are no criteria to meet, or tick boxes to complete. We’re here to help and the invitation remains open.
In practice?
As well as all the usual Network events we put on for members, as a champion we offer you champions-specific training, information via our champions mailing list, support via the champions group in Circle, and access to our membership support team and consultants for check-ins and ad hoc support. (Oh and discounts on courses and ticketed events!)