Online · 5 sessions of 3 hours
Making Co-Production Meaningful
Move beyond tokenistic participation to genuine, transformative co-production – grounded in social pedagogy, shared power and the wisdom of lived experience.
Co-production is at the heart of effective, person-centred practice – but too often it becomes a box-ticking exercise, a consultation that changes nothing, or a process that appears participatory while power remains firmly in professional hands. Making Co-Production Meaningful is a course for practitioners and leaders who want to do it differently.
Drawing on social pedagogy values, the Human Learning Systems framework and the perspectives of people with lived experience, this course explores co-production as a deeply relational and political process. It invites you to examine the assumptions, power dynamics and systems that shape how services are designed and delivered – and to develop practical approaches that genuinely share power and centre lived experience.
Over five interactive sessions, you will explore co-production through interconnected themes, bringing real challenges from your own practice and building a learning community with peers who share your commitment to doing this well.
AT A GLANCE
📅 START DATE
February 2027
💻 COURSE FORMAT
5 x 3 hours online
💷 COST PER PLACE
£275 (no VAT)
🎓 CPD CERTIFICATE
15 hours
COURSE CONTENT
What you will explore
The course explores co-production through five interconnected themes, building progressively across the programme.
✅ Session 1: Social pedagogy and co-production – shared values, concepts and what makes co-production genuinely meaningful
✅ Session 2: Human Learning Systems – complexity, adaptive practice and what it means for co-production in public services
✅ Session 3: Power, positionality and the 3Ps – understanding whose voice shapes practice and how to change that
✅ Session 4: Innovative methods and learning from failure – creative approaches to co-production and honest reflection on what goes wrong
✅ Session 5: Supporting lived experience, sustaining change and endings – embedding co-production and closing well
this course is for you if you want to …
✨ Move beyond tokenistic participation to genuine co-production
✨ Understand the power dynamics that shape how services are designed and delivered
✨ Develop practical methods for centering lived experience in your work
✨ Learn from failure honestly and create conditions for sustainable co-production
✨ Connect with others who share your commitment to doing this well
BEST SUITED FOR
Practitioners, leaders and commissioners across social care, health, education and community development who want to make co-production genuinely meaningful in their organisation or practice.
OUR APPROACH
Co-producing how we learn about co-production
Each session connects theory with practice, building on the previous one. You will bring real co-production challenges from your own context and work with peers to develop more effective approaches.
C
Capability
Building knowledge of co-production theory, social pedagogy concepts and practical methods that can be applied in your context.
O
Opportunity
Creating and identifying real opportunities to put co-production into practice, and building a peer community to support you in doing so.
M
Motivation
Connecting the work to your values and your genuine commitment to sharing power and learning from lived experience.
“More organisations need to book on to this course. There is a lot to learn about co-production. It’s not just a buzzword.”
Course participant
“I have a deeper understanding of what co-production is and how to facilitate it. I am really looking forward to using the methods I didn’t know about previously.”
Course participant
“Genuinely warm delivery with great practical examples and ideas from experience.”
Course participant
WHO WE ARE
Your facilitators
Making Co-Production Meaningful is co-facilitated by Dan Nester and Alexandra Priver from ThemPra. Both bring extensive experience of social pedagogy and co-production in practice across social care and community settings.
Dan and Alex are experienced ThemPra practitioners and facilitators who have supported organisations across the UK to develop more genuine, relational approaches to co-production. Their facilitation style is warm, participatory and grounded in the values they seek to model throughout the course.
BOOKING INFORMATION
Dates & Costs
Session dates
All sessions run 9.30am–12.30pm UK time via Zoom.
Session 1 – Thursday 25 February 2027
Session 2 – Thursday 4 March 2027
Session 3 – Thursday 11 March 2027
Session 4 – Thursday 18 March 2027
Session 5 – Thursday 15 April 2027
Course fee
£275
per place, no VAT
Payment by bank transfer or credit card, received at least 14 days prior to the start date. Purchase order details can be added to the invoice.
Group discounts are available for 5 or more places from the same organisation – contact us to discuss.
Making the case to your manager
Not sure how to make the case for attending? We have prepared a template email you can adapt.
Template email to your manager
Dear [Manager’s name],
I’d love your support to attend the Making Co-Production Meaningful course run by ThemPra Social Pedagogy CIC. I believe it would help me work in more genuine partnership with [service users/families/community members] and strengthen our approach to co-production.
Making Co-Production Meaningful is a five-session online course that explores co-production as a deeply relational and political process. Drawing on social pedagogy and the Human Learning Systems framework, it helps practitioners understand and address the power dynamics that get in the way of genuine participation – and develop practical methods that truly centre lived experience. Previous participants have described it as transformative for their understanding of co-production and their day-to-day practice.
The course runs over five live online sessions of three hours each, starting in February 2027. The fee is £275 (no VAT) per person.
I’m genuinely excited about this, and confident it would deepen my understanding of co-production and make a practical difference to how I work. I’d be happy to share my learning with the wider team.
Many thanks for considering it – please let me know if you’d like any more information.
[Your name]
15 hours cpd
Certificate awarded on completion
Upon completing the programme you will receive a CPD certificate for 15 hours. This course counts towards a range of professional standards across social care, health, education and community development.
Professional standards this course supports
Knowledge & Skills Statements – Child & Family
Child and Family Practitioners: Relationships and effective direct work | Communication | Analysis, decision-making, planning and review
Practice Supervisors: Developing excellent practitioners | Promote and govern excellent practice
Knowledge & Skills Statements – Adult Services
Social workers: Person-centred practice | Professional ethics and leadership
Professional Capabilities Framework for Social Work in England
Professionalism | Values and ethics | Diversity and equality | Rights, justice and economic wellbeing | Knowledge | Critical reflection and analysis | Context and organisations
Care Quality Commission – Key lines of enquiry
Effective | Caring | Responsive | Well-led
Other online courses
Explore the full range of ThemPra’s online learning programmes.
Interested in joining the next cohort?
The next Making Co-Production Meaningful cohort starts in February 2027. Secure your place now – spaces are limited and the course typically fills quickly.