In case of cocreation, intellectual property rights may give rise to additional discussions. And if your concept concerns the public space, local governments will be your key partners and you will have to comply with the regulations for public procurement contracts.

There is no such thing as a copy-paste solution or format. No situation is the same: the starting point, context, goal and partners are all different.

Still, there are a few things to consider that apply to any form of cocreation in the public space:

• Subdivide your process into phases and determine which partners you need to bring around the table in which phase. Not all partners must be involved in each phase and not all partners automatically move on to the next phase of the process. This means that the enterprises involved in the creation of the concept are not necessarily the enterprises that will market it.

• Make sure that the challenges relating to intellectual property and public procurement contracts have been discussed with all partners and are clear. Enterprises are not always familiar with public procurement contracts, whereas for local governments, they are so commonplace that they don’t need much thought.

• Create an overview of the possibilities, the concerns and the ambitions of each partner. Don’t limit yourself to making the ambitions clear, but also map the “foreground and background IP”: the knowledge that is developed jointly during the cocreation process and the relevant knowledge the partners already have at the start of the process.

• Be open and fair. Ensure that everyone who makes an effort is rewarded for this effort in a fair manner.