The Art of Co-Creation: Inside the WATERFRONTS Methodology

How do you turn a complex idea like "climate resilience" into a tangible reality? For the WATERFRONTS project, the answer lies not in top-down directives, but in a dynamic, hands-on process of co-creation. The project's methodology is carefully designed to be iterative, inclusive, and empowering, ensuring that the solutions it generates are developed with and by the communities themselves.

Let's take a look inside the step-by-step journey that will bring WATERFRONTS to life.

Step 1: Listening and co-designing

The project begins with listening. Instead of arriving with preconceived notions, the first phase involves a deep "Immersion & Co-design" process. In each of the three locations—Gothenburg, Lesvos, and Zadar—the project partners will host a series of workshops. These sessions will bring together a diverse mix of local residents, artists, scientists, and other stakeholders. Using participatory tools like model building and design thinking exercises, these groups will collectively identify their specific needs, map out their challenges, and begin to imagine creative solutions. This ensures that from day one, the project is grounded in the local context and driven by the community's own aspirations.

Step 2: The "Capabilities Clinic"

Once the needs are identified, the next step is to build the skills to meet them. WATERFRONTS will host an intensive, in-person training event in Greece called the "Capabilities Clinic." This is not a typical conference. It's a hands-on "dry run" where selected artists and cultural operators learn to apply the project's unique methodology. They will be equipped with skills at the intersection of marine innovation, mental health, and policy engagement. This clinic serves a dual purpose: it empowers the participants with new competencies and allows the project team to test and refine the methodology based on real-world feedback before rolling it out more widely.

Step 3: Community Artivism and the Blue Residency

This is where the ideas take physical form. The trained artists will return to their communities to lead "Community Artivism" workshops. Here, they will collaborate with local residents to produce three major artworks. These artworks will be the tangible expression of the community's dialogue around climate change and eco-anxiety.

Following this, a "Blue Residency" program will provide a space for artists to further develop these concepts. This hybrid residency combines two months of local work with a collaborative, week-long, in-person session in Gothenburg. It's a period of intense creation and cross-disciplinary exchange, where the artworks are finalized and prepared to become tools for the project's awareness campaign and policy recommendations.

Step 4: Amplifying the Message

The final phase is all about sharing the results. The artworks and the stories behind them will be amplified through community events, peer-to-peer trainings for other young creatives, and the far-reaching online campaign. The insights gathered throughout the process will be compiled into the WATERFRONTS Toolkit and a series of policy recommendations, ensuring the project's impact extends to other communities and influences systemic change.

By following this carefully crafted, people-centric methodology, WATERFRONTS does more than just create art or publish reports. It builds capacity, fosters collaboration, and creates a self-sustaining cycle of empowerment and resilience.