The Diffusion of Co-Creation in Local Government: Evidence from European Countries

In the last decade or so, local government authorities have seen the proliferation of approaches that aim to reinvigorate both their democratic legitimacy and ability to solve problems. One such approaches is co-creation, which we define as a collaborative process through which oranisations solve problems and seek solutions by working together with citizens as well as with stakeholders in the private, public or voluntary sector. While co-creation is widely promoted by initiatives at the national and international level (e.g. OECD and EU), little knowledge exists on how widely shared co-creation is. How close are we to the next phase of governance that sees the replacement of bureaucratic and market-based practices with collaborative, bottom-up and society-driven practices such as co-creation? The underlying assumption is that co-creation will effectively be diffused as it produces better outcomes, solves complex problems and increases democratic legitimacy. However, normative beliefs are insufficient to induce change at the operational level of organisations. Co-creation requires government support, collaborative leadership, strategic efforts, resources, and trained and motivated professionals. Based on original survey data collected in the Horizon 2020 project COGOV (www.cogov.eu), the paper explores the importance of each of these factors in six European countries representing different administrative traditions (Anglo Saxon, Nordic, Southern European and Eastern European). The paper provides new knowledge on what conditions underlie a frequent use of co-creation, which actors are the most frequently involved in co-creation with local authorities (citizens, service users, public sector organisations, private sector organisations or voluntary sector organisation), what are the most common uses of co-creation (problem identification, policy implementation or decision-making) and the impacts of co-creation (improved services, cost reduction or community support and trust.