Conditions for Co-creation: Lessons from a planning tool for rural facility decline

Declining levels of facilities and services are a major source of concern in rural areas across Europe. Local facilities can have different individual or communal meanings, and closure can lead to a sense of loss. While many scholars advocate for empowering rural communities in the collective coping process, few studies analyse examples of co-creative planning tools. This paper describes and evaluates the development and implementation of ‘Facility-Wise’, an analogue serious game for co-creative planning and self-organization of facilities and services. The development of Facility-Wise followed an abductive and design-led approach through a participatory process. Five real cases in North-West Fryslân (Netherlands), and one fictional case, were used for prototyping. In the final format a moderator leads participants through various discussion-elements and helps them to explore future scenarios for health care, education, sports, cultural or private facilities. This paper provides a roadmap for how to develop and use co-creative planning tools, and critically reflects on the prerequisites that are needed for successful implementation. Six prerequisites to successfully implement tools for co-creation are discussed. When these conditions are met, it is possible to mitigate negative experiences of rural facility-decline and empower communities in the collective coping process. However, it can be a challenge to be truly inclusive since this co-creative tool requires time, effort and a certain level of collective efficacy to participate. • Co-creative planning could mitigate negative experiences of facility-decline. • Analogue serious games are promising tools for co-creative planning. • There are several conditions for communities to feel empowered by co-creation. • Participants should have actual agency and an equal voice. • It is a challenge for co-creation strategies to be truly inclusive.