Creating value for citizens in public service ecosystems

Tue, 11 Aug 2026 00:55:16 GMT

Paula Rossi, University of Vaasa

Jim Broch Skarli, University of Inland Norway

Maria Petrescu, Embry-Riddle Aeronautical University

Edwina Zhu, University of Edinburgh Business School

This special issue examines how public services can create value for citizens within public service ecosystems (PSEs), moving beyond traditional service-user and organization-centric perspectives to encompass the complex interplay of multiple actors, political contexts, and non-living elements. The PSE framework emphasizes systemic, relational, and context-dependent nature of value creation, recognizing how administrative and political governance shapes what is possible in public service environments.

The call seeks contributions that explore both societal value for communities and individual value for service users, addressing the dynamics and conditions that enable or hinder value creation across individual, organizational, and institutional levels. Submissions should advance understanding of public administration and management theory and practice, with both theoretical and empirical approaches welcome, including research articles, debate pieces, and new development articles.

Appel publié par Public Money & Management. Voir l'appel sur le site de l'éditeur. Fiche de l'appel sur kerostig.

Potential topics

Examining the implications of the roles and individual characteristics of service users in value co-creation, for example from the perspective of vulnerable service users and family carers
Addressing the implementation and utilization of technologies from a PSE and value creation perspective
Widening the empirical focus from private-benefit services to include more public-benefit services such as utility services, transportation, housing, prison management or urban development, emphasizing 'value for citizens' as an outcome
Exploring the implications of understanding place-based public services from a PSE and value creation perspective
Addressing the hindering or enabling dynamics and conditions of value creation in and between the individual, organizational and institutional levels of PSEs in particular contexts, for example by utilizing 'conflict' as an analytical tool
Interrogating and developing Public Service Logic (PSL) as a framework for investigating and evaluating value creation within PSEs

Timeline

December 1, 2026: Manuscript deadline for research articles and new development pieces
March 1, 2027: Manuscript deadline for debate pieces

Place-Based Strategy Design for Value Creation

Tue, 11 Aug 2026 00:55:16 GMT

Carmine Bianchi, University of Palermo

Greta Nasi, Bocconi University

Bin Chen, Baruch College

Gabriela Lotta, FGV-São Paulo School of Business Administration

Public administrations confront increasingly multifaceted challenges such as social inequality, climate change, and digital transformation that standard management approaches struggle to address. The call invites examination of how place-based strategy design can foster sustainable value creation by integrating organizational capabilities with local ecosystemic contexts, moving beyond traditional linear and centralized planning models toward adaptive, collaborative approaches grounded in specific spatial, cultural, and institutional conditions.

The special issue seeks contributions that advance understanding of how public value emerges from interactions between internal strategic intent and external community demands, mediated by place-specific factors termed locus and habitus. It emphasizes the need for performance management systems sensitive to local diversity, collaborative governance platforms, and methods that balance inside-out organizational perspectives with outside-in ecosystem thinking to address wicked problems effectively.

Appel publié par Public Management Review. Lire l'appel complet sur le site de l'éditeur. Fiche de l'appel sur kerostig.

Potential topics

Frameworks for place-sensitive strategic planning in public services
How public value emerges within complex, nested ecosystems shaped by spatial and cultural dimensions of place
Methods for enhancing collaborative policy design and implementation in place-based ecosystems
The role of local knowledge, culture, and beliefs in shaping strategy
Interactions between inside-out (organizational) and outside-in (contextual) strategy perspectives
Synergies and tensions between internal capabilities and external demands in co-design of public service strategies
Adaptive and intelligent performance management systems
Indicators and metrics for value-in-context and value-in-society
The role of citizen perception in evaluating public service outcomes
How collaborative policymaking can generate value outcomes aligned with equity, accountability, transparency, trust, and social cohesion
The dynamics of value destruction in public service ecosystems
Collaborative platforms for cross-sector governance
Orchestration of theme-focused ecosystems for modular place development
Meta-governance and boundary-spanning leadership
Governance responses to turbulence and building robust place-based public services
Interplay of formal and informal knowledge in ecosystem adaptation
Digital platforms enabling citizen engagement and real-time data use
Role of AI and digital twins in place-based ecosystem visualization

Timeline

May 31, 2026: Abstract deadline
April 30, 2027: Full paper submission deadline

kerostig | Tag : public service ecosystems

Creating value for citizens in public service ecosystems

Potential topics

Timeline

Place-Based Strategy Design for Value Creation

Potential topics

Timeline