Cross-National Comparison of Young People’s Understandings of Co-Construction
Institution: ISCSP (Instituto Superior de Ciencias Sociais e Políticas) – Universidade de Lisboa
This doctoral research is developed within the COCOSO Doctoral Network (Co-Construction in the Field of Social Welfare), an EU-funded programme bringing together universities and non-academic partners across eight European countries. The network seeks to advance co-construction as a core dimension of democratic innovation in social welfare systems.
Despite the increasing use of co-construction and co-production in policy discourse, these concepts often remain normatively assumed and conceptually blurred. Moreover, empirical evidence on how young people themselves understand and experience co-construction within welfare systems,particularly in contexts of structural vulnerability, is limited. This project addresses that gap.
The study investigates how young people aged 18–30, engaged with local social services, perceive and participate in co-construction processes across diverse European welfare regimes (Portugal, Spain, France, Greece, Italy, Denmark, Austria and Poland). It also examines how institutional arrangements, professional practices and broader socio-political contexts shape participation opportunities and power dynamics.
Grounded in a critical epistemological framework, the research conceptualizes co-construction as an ambivalent process mediated by structural inequalities, adultism and institutional constraints. It explicitly distinguishes co-construction from participation and co-production while analysing how these concepts intersect in practice.
Methodologically, the project adopts a mixed-methods design. A transnational survey identifies macro-level patterns in young people’s understandings of co-construction, while an ethnomethodological case study conducted in Valencia (Spain), in collaboration with the NGO Jovesólides, explores lived experiences and micro-level dynamics. An intersectional lens is applied throughout to capture how class, gender and social location shape participation.
By articulating comparative and situated insights, the research aims to contribute to conceptual clarification, map European youth experiences of co-construction, and develop an exportable theoretical and practical model to inform more democratic, inclusive and ethically grounded social welfare practices.