Collaborate to Connect

Collaborate to Connect (C2C) is a training initiative designed to propel organisations into the next frontier of inclusive collaboration. Our training helps organisations unlock their full potential to co-design and to create spaces where diverse voices, especially those with lived experience and psychosocial disabilities, can come together to innovate and thrive. Together, we are charting a course towards a future where every voice is values, and every community member is empowered to shape the programs, services and policies that affect them.

The future is CO-DESIGNED.

What is Co-Design?

Codesign is a forward-thinking approach where communities and organisations collaborate in every stage of designing services, programs and solutions. It is about working together to create programs that truly meet the needs of those involved, ensuring no one is left behind.

Through the C2C program, we focus on integrating lived experience and mental health and a foundation of every project. Our training teaches organisations how to engage with communities and design programs, services, and initiatives that are:

• Inclusive
• Person-centered
• Effective
• Accessible
• Sustainable

Authentic co-design is not just a method, it is a mindset shift towards valuing lived experience and empowering communities to lead.

Our mission

In the vast expanse of innovation, the most valuable resource isn’t technology—it’s the human experience. Co-design powered by lived experience and a deep understanding of mental health is the fuel that propels us toward truly inclusive and sustainable solutions.

Just as starships rely on diverse systems to navigate the cosmos, community-driven innovation thrives when we integrate the voices of those with lived experience of mental health challenges. These voices are navigational beacons, guiding us toward solutions that are not only innovative but deeply human and transformative.

In this new frontier, lived experience is our compass, ensuring we work together with empathy, inclusivity, and psychological safety. Together, we can chart a course to a future where mental health is not a barrier but a cornerstone of community strength and resilience.

MISSION STATUS

We are currently in the co-design stage of this program.

Pilot launch is expected to begin in April 2025, and full roll-out is expected to begin in July 2025.

Express your interest for the Collaborate to Connect training here: bclarke@comhwa.org.au

Our Co-design Team

The Collaborate to Connect training program was co-designed and developed with a team of lived experience and professional experts. This team is formed by two working co-design teams:

• C2C Consumer Advisory Group (community members with a lived experience of psychosocial disability)
• C2C Organisational Advisory Group (working professionals in the health and community services sector)

The C2C Co-design Team will co-design, advise and co-deliver the Collaborate to Connect training program for the entirety of its two year project lifetime.

Meet our Co-Design team

Co-Design and Mental Health: A Rapid Review 

This rapid review aims to support the work of Collaborate to Connect in developing training resources to explore how organisations operationalize co-design when working with people with lived experience of mental health challenges in Australia.

The findings in this review will inform the design and content of C2C training materials and support agencies, such as community organisations, and local and state government, in applying co-design to programs and other initiatives.

This research was commissioned by Consumers of Mental Health Western Australia (CoMHWA) and funded by the Australian Government Department of Social Services.

Click here to read the review.

For further information on this project please contact Bridget Clarke, Project Manager via bclarke@comhwa.org.au

This project is generously funded by the Department of Social Services.