Co-creation in Public Services for Innovation and Social Justice: Concrete Elasticity! - Softcover

Softcover

ISBN 10: 1447367162 ISBN 13: 9781447367161

Publisher: Policy Press, 2024

Synopsis

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.

About this title

About the Authors

Susan Baines (156-2023) was Professor of Social Enterprise at Manchester Metropolitan University. Her research spanned social policy, innovation, enterprise and civil society, and she published extensively on these themes.

Rob Wilson is Professor of Digital Economy in the Faculty of Business and Law, Northumbria University.

Chris Fox is Professor of Evaluation and Policy Analysis at Manchester Metropolitan University.

Inga Narbutaité Aflaki is Senior Lecturer in Political Science at Karlstad University.

Andrea Bassi is Associate Professor of Sociology in the Department of Political and Social Sciences at the University of Bologna. His research interests include studies on non-profit organizations in the field of social and health services, systems of measurement of organizational performance and social impact of non-profit organizations.

Edition details

• Publisher: Policy Press
• Publication date: 2024
• Language: English
• ISBN 10: 1447367162
• ISBN 13: 9781447367161
• Binding: Paperback
• Edition number: 1
• Number of pages: 210
• Editor: Baines Sue, Wilson Rob, Fox Chris, Narbutaité Aflaki Inga, Bassi Andrea, Aramo-Immonen Heli, Prandini Riccardo