Everyday Participation: About the collaborative innovation project
In many purposeful businesses and co-operatives, member involvement is often stuck in two fringes:
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Transactional Relationships: Simple economic participation (buying products or services).
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Governance Relationships: Deep, time-consuming roles like Board or Trustee positions.
New Citizen Project developed the Everyday Participation framework and toolkit to help organisations occupy the 'fertile middle territory.' This is the space where members and customers can meaningfully shape their co-op through small, regular, and impactful actions.
The 7 Modes of Everyday Participation
Built through collaborative innovation with leading co-operatives including Co-op Group, Lincolnshire Co-op, Nationwide and The Phone Co-op, our toolkit introduces 7 Modes designed to prompt new ideas for member involvement. These modes provide a roadmap for moving from "doing for" your members to "doing with" them, building long-term loyalty and collective power.
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Strategic Goal: Shift from passive economic units to active citizens within your business.
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The Result: A more resilient, innovative, and authentically participatory co-operative.
The 7 Modes of Everyday Participation framework is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International License. We encourage others to use and adapt this work, provided appropriate credit is given to New Citizen Project.
HOW TO HARNESS EVERYDAY PARTICIPATION
Designed for everyone who works on membership - whether in marketing, people or strategy teams - at co-operatives of all shapes and sizes, this toolkit will introduce the concept of Everyday Participation, and help you start harnessing it for the benefit of your organisation.
Bespoke Training
If you are interested in bespoke training for your organisation please get in touch.
We can deliver bespoke training for your organisation, including:
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Lunchtime talks
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Bespoke workshops
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Collaborative Innovation Projects
Get in touch to discuss this further.
WHAT OUR PARTICIPANTS SAID ABOUT #EVERYDAYPARTICIPATION
Great experience and eye-opener. Provided the vision and support needed in order to make it clear the direction that the co-operative movement needs to go.
The Co-op Group
Taking part in this project gave use the renewed focus and confidence that participation is the key to building a thriving membership and as a mutual society is still core to our purpose.
Nationwide
Along with rolling out our new purpose and approach, we are really starting to consider 'everyday participation' as a means to delivering 'bringing together ideas, energy and resources to make life better in our communities'.
Lincolnshire Co-op