Solving urban problems through co-creation: The LOOPER project

The aim of this paper is to present the LOOPER participatory co-creation methodology and platform developed in the Learning Loops in the Public Realm (LOOPER) project to demonstrate ‘learning loops’ i.e. new ways of decision-making which bring together citizens, stakeholders and policy-makers to iteratively learn how to address urban challenges. The methodology and platform are demonstrated in three Living Labs with different spatial, cultural and thematic contexts. The main issues are traffic and mobility in Brussels; traffic and green space in Manchester; and air and noise pollution in Verona. The paper discusses the LOOPER approach to support finding solutions to urban problems in a participatory co-creation process. The experiences from the LOOPER Living Labs show that combining offline and online participation tools is often necessary in co-creation and that online tools should have a low entry threshold. Furthermore, formal evaluation methods can be effective tools in ensuring stakeholder participation.