Environmental co-creation: barriers to codesigning public value in Estonia

Abstract

This research looks into the co-production/creation landscape of Estonia and, more specifically, into public value creation. The focus of this study is on the barriers that societal actors encounter while engaging in the co-production process. The public value perceptions of societal actors engaged in co-production are considered. Drawing from literature about coproduction and public value, semi-structured interviews were conducted using four environmentally focused case studies. These case studies investigated between March and April of 2024 are the World Cleanup Day (2018 - present date), Tallinn’s Citizens’ Assembly for a Green Capital (2023), East-Viru County Green Plan (2020 - 2021) and Foodsharing Tartu (2019 - present date). The interviews were complemented by document analysis. The research identifies seven barriers to co-creation of public value in Estonia. These are the need for a common goal, recourses, observable outcomes, bureaucracy issues and need for change, the lack of community, language barriers and disregarding digital tools. In the final section of this thesis, a new operational framework for Estonian co-creation proposes mitigation strategies for these perceived barriers.