We need new governance solutions to help us improve public policies and services, solve complex societal problems, strengthen social communities and reinvigorate democracy. By changing how government engages with citizens and stakeholders, co-creation provides an attractive and feasible approach to governance that goes beyond the triptych of public bureaucracy, private markets and self-organized communities. Inspired by the successful use of co-creation for product and service design, this book outlines a broad vision of co-creation as a strategy of public governance. Through the construction of platforms and arenas to facilitate co-creation, this strategy can empower local communities, enhance broad-based participation, mobilize societal resources and spur public innovation while building ownership for bold solutions to pressing problems and challenges. The book details how to use co-creation to achieve goals. This exciting and innovative study combines theoretical argument with illustrative empirical examples, visionary thinking and practical recommendations.

Christopher Ansell is Professor in the Department of Political Science, University of California, Berkeley. He is the author or editor of ten books, including The Protective State (Cambridge, 2019) and Pragmatist Democracy (2011). His research focuses on understanding how organizations, institutions and communities can engage effectively in democratic governance in the face of conflict, uncertainty, and complexity. Jacob Torfing is Professor in Politics and Institutions in the Department of Social Sciences and Business, Roskilde University, Denmark and Professor in the Faculty of Social Sciences, Nord University, Norway. He is the founder and director of the Roskilde School of Governance. He has chaired the Danish Political Science Association, been a member of the Danish Social Science Research Council, and served on the Executive Committee of the European Consortium of Political Research.