Collaborative Innovation

Abstract

The panel explores the problems and potentials of using collaborative forms of governance to enhance public sector innovation. Until recently, governance theory has primarily explored the role played by collaborative forms of governance, such as networks and partnerships, in enhancing efficient and democratic governance. However, there is a growing research interest in the innovation capability and capacity of collaborative forms of governance, which is the focus of this panel. In part, the research agenda is triggered by a shift in the reform agenda in many Western countries, from a focus on making the public sector more efficient to making it more innovative in order to meet new adaptive challenges and to cope with fiscal constraint. This raises a number of critical questions for governance theorists. First, whether collaboration between interdependent stakeholders with different interests, perceptions and experiences (earned in different positions, functions and organisational and sector contexts and at different levels of governance) paves the way for new ideas and practices, or whether these divergent interests and experiences become a barrier to collaborative innovation. Second, does this type of collaborative innovation lead to change and to improvements in governance programmes and public services. Third, what constitutive or contingent factors that hamper public and private innovation respectively enable or prevent the two sectors from collaborating together, and/or with the third sector in a shared effort to innovate. Finally, how do political leaders and public managers regulate collaborative forms of governance in ways that promote their capacity to engage in innovations beneficial to public policies and services. The panel invites papers that address these and other issues related to the role of collaborative forms of governance in enhancing public innovation. The panel welcomes conceptual-theoretical papers, review papers and papers presenting empirical research of innovation in relation to collaborative forms of governance.

Title	Details
Creating Spaces for Collaborative Innovation – New Roles for Public Managers	View Paper Details
The Effect of Stakeholder Inclusion on Public Sector Project Innovation	View Paper Details
A Theory of Practice for Collaborative Governance: The Use of Social Mechanisms in Understanding Policy Success	View Paper Details
Collaborative Governance in Watershed Management: Does Participation, Trust and Legitimacy Increase Action?	View Paper Details
Learning from Leadership Challenges in Context: Reflective Insights from Former UK Government Ministers	View Paper Details