Co-Creation in Environmental Public Governance: The Case of the National Agreement on Forests

Abstract

Co-creation-based governance is considered to be an element of good governance, and Lithuanian public governance innovations are also linked to this principle. Thus, the aim of the study is to assess the experience of participation of different groups of stakeholders in the National Agreement on Forests, based on the co-creation principle. The main goals of the research are to identify problematic aspects of the application of the co-creation principle, and to provide guidelines for the effective implementation of the co-creation principle in public policy processes. The study explores the practicalities of applying the co-creation principle and presents data of the interviews with representatives of interest groups from different sectors (economic, ecological and social) and politicians involved in the National Agreement on Forests. The study also describes the results of a secondary data analysis, based on the European Social Survey, which has helped to identify possible reasons for the failure of the agreement.

Keywords

• co-creation
• inclusive governance
• social capital
• political efficacy
• national agreement on forests