CoBecome aims to raise awareness of collective co-creation.
If you are part of a complex, interdisciplinary project and want to boost creativity and foster a safe environment throughout the process, collective co-creation may be the way to go. Here, we share a range of practical tools and methods for collective co-creation. We also host workshops and lectures on the method - see Meet Us in the menu.
Purpose
CoBecome aims to raise awareness of collective co-creation. If you are part of a complex, interdisciplinary project and want to boost creativity and foster a safe environment throughout the process, collective co-creation may be the way to go. Here, we share a range of practical tools and methods for collective co-creation. We also host workshops and lectures on the method — see Meet Us in the menu.
The method we describe here has been developed over more than 15 years within various performing arts organizations. From 2011 to 2015, we developed a collective artistic practice within the ensemble Det Røde Rum at the Royal Danish Theatre. We discovered within the ensemble that by working collectively, we could innovate both artistically and organizationally on a large scale.
In 2018, Elisa Kragerup and Eva Præstiin took over the leadership of the Betty Nansen Theatre, and in collaboration with the Bikuben Foundation, a long-term effort began to foster collective co-creation throughout the institution. As part of this development, which took a total of 8 years, Ph.D. Mette Tranholm has observed countless artistic and organizational processes at the theater, all of which have been grounded in collective co-creation. Together with the participating artists and theatre professionals, she explored and reflected on the co-creative practice until a distinct method emerged. Publications on the method have been created regularly over the years.
I dag er CoBecome en forening som udbreder kendskabet til kollektiv samskabelse.
The 3 F’s: Flerstemmig (multi-voiced) – fysisk (physical) - feministisk (feminist) CoBecome is built on values that are multivoices, physical, and feminist.
We believe in collective co-creation as the path to more diverse and sustainable lives and institutions. Our approach therefore cultivates the collective dimension—organizationally, procedurally, and artistically. We believe that together, we become braver. We think in a polyphonic way - from shared leadership in extended rehearsal periods with time for collective co-creation to cross-aesthetic performances where the team is the star. Our concept of the collective is not about everyone being equal and the same but refers to a strong community of disagreeing and unequal individuals. This manifests itself in the curation of performances that explore the multifaceted nature of encounters between, for example, classical ballet, street dance, and acting. It is also explored in works featuring collective character representation, where multiple actors come together to portray a single character across, for example, gender and age in new constellations that challenge both gender norms and the fixation on stars and individuals.
We are interested in performing arts that acknowledge and celebrate the fact that we come together with other bodies within living communities. The encounter with the physical body is the defining characteristic of performing arts. We foster this by creating performances that often focus on the body - for example, by treating dancing and acting as equals, or through the genre of dance narratives, where stories are told through the body rather than words. Improvisation is a cornerstone of our method because it can activate the body first and then the mind. This often yields wild artistic ideas we could never have imagined. The body’s sensory perception is a requirement for the methods, the reflection, knowledge, and artistic research we pursue. We sense, therefore we are. The method celebrates and gives voice to our physically embedded knowledge.
Feminism promotes diversity, equality, and care. For us, feminism is activism rooted in care. We promote this by caring for our community, for each individual, and for the productions we create together. In practice, this means that we establish clear frameworks for the community and for creating good and safe working conditions for all employees. We have reimagined our production format so that we have more time and space to focus on environmental and human sustainability. In our performances, activism about caring is expressed by turning the spotlight toward other worlds and bodies, the overlooked and the unknown, to open for a multitude of new voices, interpretations, and perspectives among the audience.
Method
CO-CREATION
Early involvement and co-creation foster ownership, flexibility, and a shared sense of direction.
Co-creation should be integrated into all phases of organizational work through early, cross-functional involvement that fosters ownership and a shared vision. The multi-voiced and collective organization balances flexibility with clear frameworks and complements traditional goals with sustainable bottom lines such as well-being, diversity, and the environment.
Key tools for co-creation are:
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Early involvement:
Co-creation should be integrated from the very beginning of any process. All relevant disciplines participate without knowing the solution in advance, and ideas are tested together in practice rather than seeking answers from management or individuals. -
Interdisciplinary workshops:
The process requires time and extensive planning, with workshops that strengthen agency, collective imagination, and group cohesion. If the solution is already known and can be handled by individuals, co-creation is not necessary. -
Shared leadership:
Structures such as shared leadership or self-management support co-creation. Leadership becomes facilitation rather than control, combining clear frameworks with flexibility. The focus can shift from purely financial goals to also include sustainability, diversity, and social responsibility. -
Focus on diversity of voices:
Collective co-creation fosters bolder, more diverse, and sustainable organizations. Diversity strengthens the community without erasing individual differences.
ON THE FLOOR
Co-creation on the floor encourages interdisciplinary collaboration and new hierarchies.
The co-creation method breaks with the traditional top-down hierarchy (with the leader at the top) and instead organizes itself into interdisciplinary working groups that develop projects and create sustainable results on the floor.
Key tools for co-creation on the floor are:
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Interdisciplinary working groups and workshops:
The co-creation approach challenges top-down management and organizes work into interdisciplinary groups that develop projects through facilitated workshops with clear challenges and questions. -
Shared resource bank:
Ideas, sketches, models, and mockups are continuously collected in a shared resource bank, which creates a common language and makes the development process transparent for everyone. -
Improvisation as a driving force:
Improvisation is used to generate material, practice listening, foster generosity and a “yes culture,” and to test hypotheses physically on the floor rather than at a desk. -
Mistakes as development:
“Mistakes” are seen as necessary tests; many imprecise ideas are part of the path toward strong results. Participants gain greater ownership through active, physical testing. -
Facilitated co-creation and leadership:
Collective co-creation requires one or more facilitators. Leadership is about unlocking the group’s potential through processes—not about steering toward a predetermined outcome. The focus shifts from what we want to achieve to how we work together.
SAFE SPACES
Co-creation flourishes when groups work together thoughtfully and courageously within a safe environment.
Co-creation requires courage, reflection, and psychological safety so that groups can learn, collaborate, and develop a shared language for practice. At the same time, the value of the feminine perspective is highlighted as a form of care activism that strengthens community, well-being, and sustainability.
Handout
How to create safe spaces for courage
Key tools for creating safe spaces are:
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Courage and uncertainty as prerequisites:
Co-creation requires participants to bring their full professional expertise and personal perspectives to bear and to work toward an unknown outcome, where mistakes and experimentation are a natural part of the process. -
“The group’s dual task”:
This concept is drawn from the work of psychologists Manon de Jongh and Anne Totzen. One task is to produce targeted results for the project the group is working on. The other is to reflect on the group’s process and collaboration to establish psychological safety, learning, transparency, and trust. -
Reflection as a driving force for culture:
Ongoing conversations about the process shape the group’s thinking and collaborative culture and strengthen the work environment, community, ownership, and sense of responsibility. -
Common language and practice:
Continuous reflection develops a common language and shared practice, which strengthens both internal cohesion and the group’s external voice. -
The reflective meta-space:
Facilitated reflection functions as a “meta-space” where the group steps back from the task - like an actor stepping out of a role - and examines their own thoughts and feelings about the work in order to develop practices together.
Library
POdcast
- Medskaber
Betty Nansen Teatret del 1.
Med Elisa Kragerup, Eva Præstin og Sofie Alhøj
- Medskaber
Betty Nansen Teatret del 2.
Med Elisa Kragerup, Eva Præstin og Sofie Alhøj
- Den 4. væg
Maden i Babettes Gæstebu…
Med Elisa Kragerup, Eva Præstin, Line Kirsten og Clara Lindstrøm
Articles
"Feedback i scenekunstneriske processer"
Af Mette Tranholm og Marie Mors
"Efter nedlukning spirer kollektive på Betty Nansen Teatret igen"
Af Mette Tranholm og Marie Mors
"Renegotiating the notion of artistic genius"
Af Mette Tranholm
"Reshaping the Performing Art Institution"
Af Mette Tranholm
"Casper Koellers tale til Betty Udvikler Initiativprisen 2025"
Af Casper Keller
"På randen af utilstrækkelighed"
Af Anna Raaby Ravn
"Holdet er stjernen - Elisa Kragerup og eva Præstin takker af på Betty Nansen Teatret"
Af Anne Lisberg
