Co-Creation Hub is the Linking and Learning Facilitator for Voice in Nigeria. Voice Linking and Learning refers to the total of activities, processes and trajectories realised to boost collaboration, connectedness, sharing, listening, learning, innovation and innovation of new knowledge among grantees. It aims to produce evidence, learning and innovative solutions to catalyse transformative change for the most marginalised and discriminated groups. Co-Creation Hub works in straight collaboration and coordination with Voice Indonesia as well as Global Coordination Team. Co-Creation Hub supports Voice grantees in developing their own linking and learning as well as amplify the linking and learning to national, regional and global level. They promote participation of members of the Voice target groups and facilitate building communities of practice around issues and challenges that concern them. They develop a platform that supports inclusive collaboration, including community members in geographically remote areas. They organise events and meetings, develop thought provoking pieces, and produce creative works in order to amplify the grantees’ voices at the local, regional, and national level. All the events and activities will be announced here so watch this space! Co-Creation Hub delivers the Linking & Learning programme of Voice Nigeria by leveraging the tools and methodology they use in their Pre-Incubation & Incubation Programme. Delivering the programme will be done in phases outlined below: Phase 1: Develop Grantee Collaboration Platform

• Requirement gathering & specification development
• Develop Collaboration Platform
• Integrate Collaboration with existing Voice Nigeria channels
• Test Platform
• Launch Platform & Onboard Grantees
• Ongoing engagement on the collaboration platform with moderation from the CcHub team

Phase 2: Kick-off Learning & Linking Workshop for all grantees This is the formal start to the learning and linking part of Voice Nigeria. It is the first opportunity to connect grantees together and with the Learning <(>&<)> Linking team. The tentative structure for the workshop is as follows: 1. Team building & bonding 2. Introduction to the Learning & Linking System 3. Capacity Building – Introduction to design thinking and adding innovation into your project Phase 3: Monthly Learning Tracking Sessions (1 on 1 via skype) Review previous months’ project activities and learning priorities Coaching: Identify key learning and project implementation challenges and explore possible solutions Set learning priorities for the next 1month and review alignment with project activities & goals

Connecting Voices through Linking and Learning in Nigeria  

Linking and Learning (LL) is a key component of Voice. It is the heart and soul of everything we do at Voice; it is indeed one of the legacies the programme hopes to leave behind when it ends. It is the totality of activities, processes and trajectories realised to boost collaboration, connectedness, sharing, listening, learning, innovation and application of new knowledge. It aims to produce evidence; learning and innovative solutions to catalyse transformative change for the most marginalised and discriminated groups.  

Co-Creation Hub is an innovation centre dedicated to accelerating the application of social capital and technology for economic prosperity. It is Nigeria’s first open living lab and pre-incubation space designed to be a multi-functional, multi-purpose space where work to catalyse creative social technology ventures take place. The Hub provides a space to co-create new solutions to social problems in Nigeria and they have a wealth of experience in knowledge management, and using innovative tools and strategies to address social challenges. The organisation was the linking and learning facilitator for Voice in Nigeria. Their role was to provide opportunities and platforms for grantee partners to come together, co-create, leverage on each other’s strength and learn from each other’s weaknesses. Moreover, the facilitator was expected to amongst others, facilitate a safe space for grantees to engage & learn; support the amplification of their voices and work; bring grantee partners and or rightsholders together etc.  

Grantee partners and rightsholders were not as excited as Voice in Nigeria expected- it was difficult for them to understand the thin line between the role of Linking and Learning facilitation and additional monitoring responsibilities. They had their own idea of what the LL facilitator was supposed to be doing and this included strengthening their capacities in various ways and providing some level of support in their project implementation. Unfortunately, the original concept of Linking and Learning by Voice was to create that opportunity for grantee partners to take ownership of their learning journey and lead the process of their own empowerment (including capacity strengthening) while the Linking and Learning facilitator was to make the space for this to happen. There were indeed challenges, which made it difficult for Co-Creation Hub to deliver on their mandate under the grant.  

With the support of Voice in Nigeria team, the Linking and Learning facilitator and grantee partners were able to co-create what they understood by Linking and Learning, how it could add value to the grantee partners and their learning journey and how the riches within that concept could be maximised. This guideline and clarity provided through their various engagements paved way for the successful Linking and Learning experiences. It set the pace for the level of commitment and involvement that the new Linking and Learning facilitator now enjoys with Nigerian grantee partners. The guideline developed with the support of Co-Creation Hub remains a reference point for the grantee partners (particularly the new ones) whenever they need clarity on roles and responsibilities within the Linking and Learning process. Gradually, the grantee partners have taken ownership of the process and set up a Linking and Learning WhatsApp platform for their communication.  

Co-creation had the challenge of seeking buy in for a new concept for both grantee partners and Voice team but they were courageous enough to lead the process of testing the waters, which was not easy. Overtime, Linking and Learning has become an integral part of work by grantee partners in Nigeria.