Abstract
<jats:title>Abstract</jats:title> <jats:p>This book critically examines possible shifts towards co-creation-based and more participatory forms of working in current modes of public management that may be apparent across various European countries. Such approaches have been widely called for in some academic and public policy literatures, and this book brings extensive empirical evidence to explore how these arguments are enacted in policy and practice. The text distinctively adopts a strategic management-orientated perspective to examine whether such shifts are now of substantial scale or confined to pockets. We explore which modes of strategic management are most apparent in our case study sites. The book also explores the wider public management context and the role of public agency professionals and leaders in the transition to co-creation. We conclude that there is a mixed and layered pattern of organizational change rather than a radical organizational transformation towards co-creation. For co-creation to succeed, public leaders and professionals need to balance their own actions with conditions that do not always support co-creation. To facilitate their work, the book provides insight into the role of co-creation in place-based development, and outlines tools, techniques, and frameworks to help support co-creation. Taken together, this text provides insights into the piecemeal transition to co-creation and how the wider context and place intersect with the agency of elected politicians, public managers, and public service professionals in their efforts to enable co-creation.</jats:p>