Co-creation in open innovation settings. An Italian case study

This article discusses an example of active public participation in innovation pathways, based on the experience of a group of volunteers who responded to a public call to contribute to a complex, local, technological challenge: the co-creation of a technological tool aimed at informing their co-citizens about the air quality and possible measures to protect their health. This pilot experience is part of the European H2020 project MOSAIC and took place in one of the most industrialised Italian areas: the city of Milan. We analyse the factors that enabled the participants and the organisers to reach their co-creation goals and to overcome obstacles. We show how the adoption of this approach contributed to reinforce the agency of all the actors of the Quadruple Helix involved: the local public sector, industry, public and private research institutions, the citizens and their associations. We conclude that, in order to facilitate successful pathways of co-creation in socio-technical innovation, some key-elements are decisive: the link with early-identified local policies and networks, the clarity of the challenge, the fair engagement among the QH participants, the planning of human resources.