Cedar and Queen’s Management School delivered a joint conference to lift the lid on co-production through the exploration of ‘Envisioning’, ‘Enhancing’, ‘Experiencing’ and ‘Enlightening others’ on the innovative approach.

Co-Production is a process where professionals and people who use services work in equal partnership to shape and inform the design and delivery of services to improve their quality of life.

The conference was Chaired by Lynda Bryans who welcomed service users, academics, Department officials and representatives from the voluntary and community sector to make contributions to the conference through presentations and dedicated workshops.

The conference was held at Queen’s Management School, Riddel Hall.

Keynote speakers included Bria Mongan Director of Adult Services and Prison Healthcare in the South Eastern Trust; Dave Milliken, Belfast Local Engagement Partnership; and Susanne Martikke, Researcher at the Greater Manchester Centre for Voluntary Organisation.

Stephen Mathews, Cedar CEO and keynote speaker said:

“It is essential to adopt a co-productive approach to understand what genuinely matters to people. The creation of equal partnerships and power-sharing offers opportunities for people to influence decisions that shape services both locally and strategically.”

Co-production is ingrained within Cedar’s culture and helps us to deliver our Vision of an inclusive society for all.”

Dr Bernadette Best, Lecturer from Queen’s Management School at Queen’s University Belfast, who co-partnered this event said:

“We were delighted to have secured Economic and Social Research Council (ESRC) Business Boost funding to support this joint conference and enable shared dialogue and knowledge exchange between academics, Health and Social Care practitioners, government departments and service users on this important subject.”

The conference offered an opening for stakeholders to work towards productive solutions that maximise service user involvement in the co-design, co-delivery, and co-evaluation of health and social care services.  The conference was supported by the ESRC Business Boost Fund.