Incorporating the Co-Creation Method into Social Innovation Design to Promote Intergenerational Integration: A Case Study of a Public Square

Abstract

With the COVID-19 pandemic sweeping the world, there is an increased focus on intergenerational relationships, community mental health issues, and well-being in community contexts. This paper assesses the effectiveness of a co-creation approach for intergenerational integration at the theoretical level. The study used a collaborative co-creation design method in the community design process to explore whether the participation of community residents of all ages in addressing community issues promoted communication and alleviated stereotyping between the various generations. This study was conducted in Shanghai’s Hongqiao New Village square, where we conducted participatory research and co-creation workshops in response to the demand for the use of the public space as a location for social interactions. The results showed that intervention in community creation through collaborative design is conducive to promoting friendly relations among different age groups, forming a sense of social security and thus enhancing social well-being. Finally, this paper combines practical cases and theoretical models of collaborative co-creative design approaches to promote the intergenerational integration of communities and is summarized from the input and output parts as well as the influencing factors and constraints of the collaborative co-creative. In addition, it provides new ideas on how to improve intergenerational relationships and form a positive and sustainable community mental health environment in the future.

Using Co-Design to Explore New Trends in Future Kitchen Designs: An Exploratory Workshop Study of College Students in China

“…The participants were then asked to think freely about the future kitchen design without interrupting each other, allowing for creativity and imagination. This differs from previous studies of co-design, which have tended to involve direct multi-stakeholder co-discussion and design, resulting in the restriction of individual ideas and insufficient expression [ 48 , 50 , 61 ]. The expression of individual innovation is the basis of co-design and provides individual materials for a creative co-design pool, which is indispensable.…”

“…Co-design has also been applied in areas such as urban development planning and public space design to increase the fit with human needs and behavioral patterns [ 49 ]. For example, Wu et al (2022) used co-creative design approaches in the community design process to promote intergenerational integration [ 50 ].…”

Intergenerational Integration in Community Building to Improve the Mental Health of Residents—A Case Study of Public Space

“…In addition, through our research practices, we concluded that the core of intergenerational integration lies in effective communication between intergenerational groups, equal collaboration, and strong empathy. This also shows that, through co-creation interventions, people are empowered to feel respected and gradually move from being served to being active contributors to the community [ 76 ]. We achieved this by incorporating the core conceptual thrusts of community psychology and also found that a collaborative co-creation approach effectively promoted intergenerational cognition, improved intergroup relations, and positively influenced community residents’ mental health.…”

Value Co-Creation Activities of Students on The Covid-19 Pandemic: Empirical Evidence from Economics Students in Vietnam

“…Value co-creation activities are the relationships that create value between businesses and customers, allowing clients to participate in developing ideas for products and services to match the market context (Prahalad & Ramaswamy, 2004;Wu et al, 2022). The value co-creation process is where enterprises work in cooperation with all stakeholders (Hale et al, 2013;Popp et al, 2021).…”

“…Second, Ngoc and Huy (2016) promote decision-making collaboration in the learning process, which allows students and lecturers to work together to refine the student experiences (Ngoc & Huy, 2016). Third, they promote organizational innovation, which has significantly positively impacted their performances (Phan, 2019;Popp et al, 2021;Wu et al, 2022).…”