Knabstrup sets course!

Challenge

The village of Knabstrup faced a challenging demographic development that required a boost from the development of the entire local area. Holbæk Municipality wanted to cooperate with the citizens of Knabstrup to mobilize local forces and ensure future-proofing of the area. The project was also intended to create a model for co-creation and community development that could inspire similar efforts in other local areas.

Solution

Through workshops, civic groups and an action learning course, 50 citizens, politicians and municipal employees collaborated to develop six different development projects in Knabstrup. The action learning course was based on Resonans' welfare development model and strengths-based approach. The six civic groups worked in parallel to develop and run projects in areas such as traffic, children's life, neighbourhood, leisure, settlement and branding.

Results

Through the project, six concrete projects were launched that strengthened the local community in Knabstrup in cooperation between citizens, the municipality and local politicians. Participants received a skills boost in co-creating, working strength-based and mobilizing, and municipal politicians were strengthened in interactive political leadership. New relationships and connections were created between the citizens of Knabstrup, strengthening the community, neighbourhood and local development, as well as relations with the municipality's administration and politicians. The project led to the development of a tangible and tested model for future special efforts in Holbæk Municipality, to be organized and co-created between the municipality's administration, local politicians and citizens.

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“The coolest thing about the project has been that we have been brought together in three different roles: as a citizen, a municipal employee and a politician. I used to think about the method before, but now I've found that it works. It is both more efficient and provides better solutions when all three parties sit at the same table and work together throughout the process.”

— Jan Fjordbak, Chairman of Knabstrup Lokalforum