Co-creation in Public Services for Innovation and Social Justice

Available Open Access digitally under CC-BY licence. Informed by practical action, lived experience and international research, this book shines new light on the theory and reality of co-creation, highlighting the possibilities and potential in a range of contexts through practical service dilemmas and lived experience.

Available Open Access digitally under CC-BY-NC-ND licence.

This book examines the idea and practice of co-creation in public services. Informed by practical action, lived experience and research from 10 countries across Europe, including the UK, it shines new light on the theory and reality of co-creation by conceptualising it in terms of human rights, social justice and social innovation.

Focusing on human dimensions, the book presents real life examples in public services as diverse as social care, health, work activation, housing and criminal justice. It also highlights the ways digital technologies can accelerate or hinder co-creation.

The book confronts a paradox at the heart of co-creation: standardisation and inflexibility in planning and resourcing, or ‘concrete-ness’, counters the ‘elasticity’ required to sustain co-creation in complex contexts.