Strategic planning for local government co-creation: Evidence from Croatia and Slovenia

Abstract

This article explores to what extent strategic planning is important for the implementation of co-creation, the process through which public authorities solve problems with partners outside their organization. The article explores local government in Croatia and Slovenia, where structural conditions–problems with administrative capacity, low strategic planning capacities, a weakly embedded civil society and the private sector in the provision of public services–are unfavourable for the implementation of co-creation. Results show that strategic planning has a positive effect on the uptake of co-creation. How comprehensively co-creation is implemented also depends on the motivation and preparedness of professionals. Even in an environment where dialogue and collaboration between different partners and levels of government are not well-embedded, co-creation is on the rise and most frequently used for agenda setting.