In co-production, the value-judgements of people with lived experience are put at the centre, but practitioners and technical experts participate with them in a power sharing arrangement that promotes two-way learning. This increases the legitimacy of wellbeing conceptualisations while ensuring that they can also be put into practice in a practical and rigorous way.
Below Dr Anna Alexandrova and Dr Mark Fabian of the Bennett Institute talk about their report ‘A Model of Thriving’, , which summarises their research into what helps people going through adverse life experiences – such as financial hardship – to thrive and not just to survive. The report explores how people with lived experience can ‘co’produce’ concepts of wellbeing in collaboration with policy practitioners and academic experts. 
They found that people fighting poverty emphasised the following aspects when thinking about what allows them to thrive: 
Satisfying basic material needs
Overcoming cultural expectations and stigma
Having freedom and autonomyHaving strong relationships with friends, family and a community Interestingly, other aspects they emphasised that were unique to their context were:
Having advocates and straightforward access to the welfare system
Avoiding marginalisation and oppression
Having purpose and being able to contribute to something, rather than pleasure Read more