Throughout Alia’s existence, we’ve engaged in community co-design that brings the lived expertise and endless wisdom of those most impacted by the system together with those who hold power—knowing those closest to the problem are closest to the solution. While the process of co-designing new solutions is necessary to keep children safely within their families and communities, there is critical readiness work that must be happen to prevent additional harm to those engaged in the work. The lessons we learned to reduce harm for designers from our early co-design work is now infused in the way we engage impacted parents as well as system staff in the essential preparation work needed before bringing them together.
We call this work Ethical, Equitable Co-design (or 2E Co-design) to bring attention to the fact that co-design must attend to the ethics and equity within the design process. Co-design begins long before bringing two groups together—readiness is required to prepare (both the system and community) to reduce harm and increase the likelihood of success. To prepare for 2E co-design, we work with system staff and leaders to build the mindsets and behaviors needed to authentically engage, build trust with, and humble themselves to impacted families, while minimizing harm. On the community side, we build trust with impacted parents igniting new hope that their contributions will create real change if they are willing to engage, and strategize equitable compensation options so that they can maintain their benefits while participating in the work.
At Alia, the foundation of 2E co-design requires creating a new table rather than inviting new voices to a table that’s already been set, and intentionally building and nurturing the relationships with those we are asking to retell their stories of pain and trauma, coming face-to-face with those by whom they have been harmed. This requires the system to prepare to authentically receive and validate the experiences of those closest to the pain. While focus groups, listening sessions and advisory boards can be useful tools, they do not represent the concepts of 2E co-design, which at the core is a practice of sharing power equally and committing at the highest level to following through on the solutions and ideas that emerge through the process.
Learn more about our most comprehensive 2E Co-design work in Rock County, Wisconsin in the Idea Book: A New Future for Families in Beloit.