Co-Creation

About

What is Co-Creation?

Knowledge co-creation is a collaborative process where stakeholders, practitioners, and researchers work together to generate, share, and apply knowledge. Rather than knowledge being produced by a single group and then transferred to others, co-creation emphasises collaboration, mutual learning, and the blending of diverse perspectives, experiences, and types of expertise. Including local voices in the process does not only ensure that solutions are tailored to the unique local conditions, but it also creates a sense of shared ownership which motivates participants to use those solutions even beyond the project timeframe. This approach is especially valuable in addressing complex challenges such as human-wildlife conflicts, where multiple interests and perspectives must be reconciled.

The CoCo project recognises that sustainable solutions to pastoralism-wildlife conflicts must be rooted in both scientific research and the lived experiences of those directly affected, including pastoralists, hunters, and landowners. Each group brings valuable perspectives and insights that are essential for developing effective and lasting solutions. Beyond surveying stakeholders, CoCo practices co-creation by engaging stakeholder organisations as project partners and subcontractors, ensuring their views are represented in decision-making processes. Ongoing dialogue occurs through consultation forums and active outreach ensures that diverse knowledge and experience are incorporated into all research processes.

Advisory Board

CoCo has established a dedicated Advisory board to guide the project's direction as part of the co-creation process. The board is composed of members from the EU Platform on Coexistence Between People and Large Carnivores and other relevant stakeholders and scientific experts. The board is enhanced by connections to regional platforms in key study areas, such as Romania and Sweden, which have a strong pastoralist presence and overlap with CoCo’s case study areas. The board provides structured feedback and interaction on various project activities, including the scoping reviews, survey designs, and the development of policy recommendations.

Meet the CoCo Advisory Board:

Vincenzo Gervasi

Vincenzo Gervasi is a researcher at the Italian Institute for Nature Protection and Research (ISPRA), working mainly on large carnivore ecology, management and conservation. During the last 20 years, he has focused on the use of ecological modelling tools to study the demography of all the four European large carnivores. He has explored predator-prey dynamics, and the impact of large carnivore return on livestock breeding across Europe. In recent years, his main interest has been on the use of interdisciplinary approaches to understand coexistence patterns between large carnivores and human activities.

Klaus Hackländer

Klaus Hackländer is a wildlife ecologist and conservationist. He is the Head of the Institute of Wildlife Biology and Game Management at BOKU University (Vienna, Austria) as well as CEO of the German Wildlife Foundation (Hamburg, Germany). As President of the CIC Applied Science Division he aims at bringing together science and practice to support CIC vision of conservation through sustainable use.

Sybille Klenzendorf

Dr. Sybille Klenzendorf is a Senior Wildlife Conservation Expert for WWF. Sybille leads the Wildlife Conservation Program for Germany and Europe and provides expertise on wildlife science and monitoring, human-wildlife conflict, population ecology and management. Her expertise includes management of threats to flagship species such as polar bears, Brown bear, or tigers, including poaching, habitat loss, human- wildlife conflict, and large-scale conservation management.

Michele Nori

Michele Nori is a Tropical Agronomist (University of Florence, Italy) with a further PhD specialisation in Rural Sociology (Wageningen, The Netherlands) and a specific expertise on resource management and livelihood systems of agro-pastoral communities. With a background in economics, environment, food systems and agriculture policies, he has developed cross-sectoral and interdisciplinary skills through a long experience in integrating field practice, scientific research and policy work. His current concern, as a policy officer in DG AGRI (unit B2, environmental sustainability), is to translate this long experience into the provision of effective scientific evidence and policy advice, particularly in the framework of the Common Agricultural Policy.

Madeleine Nyman

Madeleine Nyman is a seasoned professional with a diverse background spanning science, policy, and management. Holding a PhD in ecotoxicology, she has accumulated extensive experience as a scientist, policymaker, manager, and senior adviser across various governmental institutions. In her current role as a Senior Expert at the Natural Resources Institute Finland (Luke), she contributes significantly to environmental research and policy development. Her multidisciplinary expertise enables her to address complex environmental challenges effectively.

Hanna Pettersson

Hanna Pettersson is a Swedish conservation social scientist based at the Leverhulme Centre for Anthropocene Biodiversity at the University of York. Her research focuses on the interactions between large carnivores and pastoral populations in Europe, particularly on bio-cultural perspectives, knowledge co-production, and just transitions to coexistence.

Rok Cerne

(Slovenia Forest Service)

Jenny Wik Karlsson

(Swedish Reindeer Herders)

María Turiño

(Entretantos / Plataforma por la Ganadería Extensiva y el Pastoralismo)

Funded by the European Union. Views and opinions expressed are however those of the author(s) only and do not necessarily reflect those of the European Union or the European Research Executive Agency. Neither the European Union nor the granting authority can be held responsible for them.