How do we transform a multidisciplinary, multi-stakeholder European consortium into a living ecosystem of shared knowledge? How do we ensure that clinical insights, technological innovations, and patient experiences don’t just exist in silos but actively feed into one another?
These were the driving questions behind an interactive workshop facilitated by Future Needs team and led by Eva Palaiologk – Human-Centred Researcher, at the plenary meeting of our Horizon Europe healthcare project MULTIPULM.
The session served as the perfect moment to dive deep into a critical milestone for the project: designing, structuring, and launching a highly successful Community of Practice (CoP).
Drawing on Future Needs’ expertise in human-centred research methodologies and stakeholder engagement, the workshop aimed to steer the conversation away from rigid administrative frameworks and centre it on what truly matters: the people.
Why Communities of Practice (CoP) need co-creation
A Community of Practice is more than a list of project partners or a recurring calendar invite. It is a collaborative space where clinicians, researchers, innovators, and end-users continuously exchange value, solve problems, and drive long-term impact.
However, building a CoP within a complex initiative like MULTIPULM, which focuses on integrated digital care and multimorbidity management, presents unique challenges. It requires bridging different professional languages, aligning incentives, and navigating varying levels of engagement.
To tackle this, our workshop leveraged a structured, participatory approach. Rather than imposing top-down guidelines, we engaged consortium partners through a co-creation activity designed to uncover:
Stakeholder profiles & motivations: What specific value does a patient, a healthcare practitioner, a researcher, or a policymaker gain from actively participating in this CoP?
Shared purpose: Where do our collaborative interests naturally overlap, and how can we cultivate a resilient ecosystem of evidence synthesis and knowledge exchange?
Barriers to engagement: What prevents multimorbid patients suffering from chronic respiratory conditions, as well as busy healthcare professionals, from contributing, and how can we design low-friction, high-reward touchpoints?
The MULTIPULM Case Study: Designing Communities Across Different Healthcare Systems
One of the key principles of participatory design is recognising that one size does not fit all.
In MULTIPULM, the goal is to establish Communities of Practice across three pilot countries – Brazil, Serbia, and Türkiye – each with distinct healthcare pathways, cultural contexts, and financial systems. This diversity presents a valuable opportunity, but also requires a more nuanced approach to community building.
To ensure these differences were fully considered, we split participants into three dynamic groups. Ensuring each group had representatives from the different pilot countries allowed us to successfully bring the conversation from a generic overview down to a country and context-specific approach.
By treating the consortium members themselves as the “users” of this new community ecosystem, we mapped out an empathetic framework for designing a CoP that remains active, purposeful, and sustainable long after the project’s official lifecycle.
The impact of a participatory approach
Designing a functional CoP requires breaking down traditional silos. When you bring diverse experts together in one room, away from their screens, the magic lies entirely in the dialogue – in the questions raised that allow us to view a single challenge from multiple perspectives.
During our workshop, this collaborative synergy was immediately evident.
“Bringing together people from different disciplines was very interesting and very important in order to understand each other, to speak the same language and to see what is the expectation of the different fields in terms of the processes of the project, and the objectives,” – reflects Georgios Apostolidis from Aristotle University of Thessaloniki (AUTH), an innovation partner who is developing a digital tool focused on improving the quality of sleep.
By facilitating active dialogue, we didn’t just map out project steps; we co-created the mutual understanding needed to truly “speak the same language.” This interpersonal connection resonated globally across the international ecosystem.
“For me and I think for all the pilot partners it was a really nice hands-on exercise because we were able to share our experiences and this is very important to build communities of practice that unite patients, healthcare professionals, researchers and other stakeholders at the same time,” – shares Guilherme Pinheiro from Universidade de Fortaleza (Unifor), representing the pilot country of Brazil.
Our workshop marked the first major step towards bridging the gap between research and everyday societal progress. MULTIPULM partners are now fully equipped to facilitate the right conversations with the exact people they need to engage to start building vibrant CoPs in each pilot country.
How we can help you build impactful networks
At Future Needs, we believe that whether you are developing a digital health solution, shaping policy, or building an international network, success always starts with a deep, empathetic understanding of human behavior and stakeholder needs.
Explore some of the other sectors where we have developed strong, thriving communities and networks:
Aviation Twin Transition Cluster
Elevate your next proposal
Does the call topic that you are applying for require the development of a Community of Practice, putting together stakeholder groups or running co-creation workshops like the topics below?
Example from the Construction sector: (HORIZON-NEB-2026-01) Beautiful, inclusive and sustainable neighbourhoods for communities Deadline: 01 December 2026.
Requires: a participatory and transdisciplinary approach through the integration of different actors and disciplines, to produce meaningful and significant effects, enhancing the societal impact of the related research activities.
Example from the Energy sector: (HORIZON-CL5-2026-11) Sustainable, secure and competitive energy supply Deadline: 01 December 2026.
Requires: community-level public participation to address local concerns regarding new renewable installations and ensure smooth institutional collaboration between local councils and project developers.
Example from the Democracy and Cultural Heritage sector: (HORIZON-CL2-2027-02) Culture, Creativity and Inclusive Society – 2027 – Two-stage Deadline: 04 May 2027.
Requires: stakeholder engagement and social co-design, demonstrating how the socio-economic indicators of the proposal will measure the project’s long-term societal impact.
Example from the Environmental Health sector: (HORIZON-HLTH-2027-01-ENVHLTH-MISSCLIMA-03) Tools and technologies to support health adaptation to climate change Deadline: April 13, 2027.
Requires: set up an expert consultation group to execute a formal Health Impact Assessment (HIA) for the proposed technological or spatial interventions, ensuring the solution protects at-risk groups and aligns with EU-wide healthcare policy guidance.
Then, let’s talk! With our experience we can help you address the requirement adequately and elevate your proposal.
Explore further our Research Services and reach out to see how we can collaborate.
Eva Palaiologk
Eva is a Human-Centred Researcher and Innovation Consultant with 10+ years of experience in research and project management. Her research background is in the sectors of Hydrogen, Aviation and Finance. Specializing in Human-Centered Design methodologies, such as participatory research and validation, she turns stakeholder insights into economically viable, technically feasible and socially desirable solutions and policies.
