On May 26th, the ESCH-R PhD community came together at UMC Utrecht for an inspiring and hands-on PhD Day focused on co-creation and circularity in healthcare.

Morning Session: Co-Creation Workshop

Led by Jotte de Koning and Ayşegül Özçelik, the morning kicked off with an interactive co-creation workshop designed to explore how our ESCH-R PhD researchers can apply co-creation in their own scientific work and also the importance of co-creation in the development of products and services used in healthcare settings. The PhD’s developed practical co-creation plans by answering key questions: What is your goal? Who do you want to involve? What setting works best?

The session introduced co-creation as a mindset, method, and toolkit, emphasizing its roots in product innovation, creativity theory, and participatory democracy. Involving users and other stakeholders early on in research and development leads to better, more accepted outcomes. The concept of the joint space of creation was central, highlighting the value of integrating expert knowledge with user insights.

We also discussed the Arnstein Ladder of Participation, a framework to reflect on the level of citizen involvement in co-creation from tokenism to real shared decision-making. Aysegul shared insights into co-creation within hospital settings, including its benefits, such as shared understanding, and barriers like institutional resistance or limited resources.

Afternoon: Department Visits at UMCU

In the afternoon, we visited several hospital departments, including Dialysis, Central Sterilisation, and Robotic Surgery. These visits provided an eye-opening look into the materials used and current efforts towards circularity within the hospital.

The goal: to better understand how our PhD research can support and contribute to sustainable and circular innovations in these departments. Each visit sparked valuable discussions about potential research collaborations and the real-world impact of circular healthcare.

Key Takeaway

By combining co-creation and systems thinking, PhD researchers can play a crucial role in making hospitals more circular. This day was a powerful reminder of the value of working together, smarter and better the very core of the ESCH-R mission.

Thank you to all attendees!

Ayşegül Özçelik – Jasper Klasen – Chang Lung Tsai – Yuanyuan (Alice) Wu – Shalvi Thakur – Heidi Annala – Joek van der Zwaan – Jacopo Parma – Yifan Yang – Paula Götz – Behrang Manouchehrabadi – Karin Gerritsen – Jotte de Koning – Sanne Jansen – Marcel Crul – Jeroen de Geus – Sipan Yousef – Charissa Meulenkamp – Veerle Groen