Solving Problems Together, a guide to support co‑creation in the public sector

In 2022, Portugal, Spain and the Netherlands joined forces to develop the multi‑country project “Improving civic participation through emerging technologies”. The project was implemented in collaboration with the OECD and funded by the European Commission through the TSI (23PT04).

Building on the lessons learned from this work, the project teams have now created the guide “Solving Problems Together”, which for the first time brings together, in a structured way, a complete methodology to support co‑creation projects in the public sector.

The guide brings together the entire process followed by the teams from the three countries in developing digital solutions aimed at strengthening civic participation. Organised into five phases – defining the scope, identifying challenges, ideating solutions, preparing testing and implementation, and planning scalability – the document offers guidance, exercises, templates and real insights gathered over 20 months of joint work.

This publication emerges in a context of growing challenges for public administrations, from the erosion of citizens’ trust to technological acceleration. The co‑creation approach is presented as a way of tackling complex problems involving multiple actors: public bodies, experts, civil society organisations and citizens.

One of the highlighted aspects is the building of a transnational community which, throughout the project, brought together civil servants, researchers, entrepreneurs and international experts in digital participation. Through interviews, ecosystem mapping, intensive bootcamps and national sessions, the teams worked together to transform institutional challenges into concrete prototypes.

The guide also includes a set of replicable tools, from problem‑reframing exercises to rapid ideation methods, designed to be reused and adapted by public‑sector teams. All materials are available under a Creative Commons CC BY 4.0 licence, encouraging their dissemination, adaptation and continuous improvement.

The core value of the “Solving Problems Together” guide lies in its practical purpose: supporting public‑sector teams in moving from ideas to action, promoting open innovation, structural collaboration and the creation of solutions with greater public impact. The guide now aims to serve as a reference for future co‑creation projects in the European public administration.

Guide Solving Problems Together

To support co‑creation in the public sector

This guide is organised into five phases: identifying challenges, ideating solutions, preparing testing and implementation, and planning scalability. It offers guidance and replicable tools for exercises ranging from problem‑reframing to rapid‑ideation methods, designed to be reused and adapted by public‑sector teams.

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