Close
The Cambridge Co-Creation Approach: Tools for Systems Change and Impact
20 March 2026
Webinar on the Cambridge Co-Creation Approach: a transdisciplinary method using systems thinking to integrate diverse knowledge, analyse complex challenges, and improve robust, inclusive decision-making.
DescriptionContemporary global challenges such as climate transitions, artificial intelligence governance, and food system fragility are characterised by complexity, uncertainty, and deep interdependencies that render linear, reductionist approaches insufficient. This webinar advances the Cambridge Co-Creation Approach as a rigorous transdisciplinary, action-research methodology for generating decision-relevant evidence within complex adaptive systems. It conceptualises co-creation not as participatory consultation, but as a structured epistemic and methodological framework that integrates heterogeneous knowledge systems, including quantitative data, qualitative insights, institutional logics, and lived experience. Grounded in principles from complexity science, political economy, and social psychology, the Cambridge Co-Creation Approach operationalises systems thinking through instruments such as the Cambridge Policy Boot Camp and the Policy Simulation Lab. These tools enable the identification of system dynamics, feedback loops, and emergent properties, while facilitating the structured exploration of trade-offs, risks, and distributional consequences. Particular emphasis is placed on the role of power, governance, and exclusion, interrogating how dominant actors and institutional arrangements shape both the production of knowledge and the design of interventions. The session will critically examine how co-creation can enhance epistemic robustness, stakeholder alignment, and implementation feasibility in contexts of uncertainty and contestation. It will also reflect on methodological implications for evidence generation, including the integration of plural data sources and the co-production of knowledge across sectors. The webinar is intended for scholars, policymakers, and practitioners seeking to advance systems-oriented approaches to designing scalable, context-sensitive, and socially legitimate pathways for sustainable and resilient development. |
Speakers
Prof. Nazia M Habib
Centre for Resilience and Sustainable Development (CRSD) at University of Cambridge
Trained at Oxford University and at University of Cambridge, Professor Habib has dedicated her scholarship to develop twenty-first century action-research methodologies that will harness the power of collective intelligence, smart technologies and open innovation to aid and add greater resilience to the cohesive decision-making process. She has contributed to more than 57 countries to improve their abilities to manage uncertainty and advised over 20 governments on sustainable development and climate change related policy. She was recognised on the Commonwealth Day 2023 by the King of England at the Buckingham Palace for her research on the Commonwealth Small State. She has set up the world’s first food system leadership academy for the North Africa and Near East region (NENA) with The Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations (FAO).
Prior to founding CRSD, she was a founding University Lecturer for the MPhil in Public Policy at Cambridge. She has been awarded Newton Fellowships, Commonwealth Scholarships and numerous research grants. She is also an Honorary Professor at Asia-Europe Institute at the University of Malaya.