This paper, which is still under construction, studies the decentralisation of social action competencies in the Oeste Intermunicipal Community (OesteIC / Oeste CIM). In Portugal, the decentralisation process has acquired renewed importance, particularly in the field of social action, where it seeks to promote more efficient and empathetic management, aligned with the specific needs of each local community (Lei n.o 75/2013).

Based on the comprehensive or interpretive paradigm (Carrillo, 2007; Lessard-Hébert et al., 1994; Schwandt, 2000), this qualitative case study will be supported by documentary analysis (Maxwell, 2013; Stern, 1980) and will utilise a variety of sources suitable for analysis (Bryman, 2016) including OesteCIM annual reports, relevant legislation, public policy documents and academic literature. This approach allows for a detailed and grounded assessment of the decentralisation policies implemented, ensuring an in-depth understanding of the dynamics and effectiveness associated with the transfer of competencies to the local level. The aim is to understand the implementation process and the impact of decentralisation policies.

The paper focuses on programmes that improve accessibility, integrate vulnerable groups and promote social inclusion (OesteCIM, 2021, 2024c). The results indicate that decentralisation allows OesteCIM to respond more effectively to local needs, promoting closer and more empathetic public management. Bringing public services closer to the people they serve, personalising the response to local needs and promoting social inclusion are just some of the advantages of this approach. The importance of adapting public policies to local realities, the need for effective coordination between the various levels of government and the advantage of actively involving local communities in the decision-making process are some of the conclusions of this exploratory research.

The challenges include economic, environmental, social and cultural sustainability, as well as the need for continuous adaptation, reflecting local dynamics. This study broadens the debate on decentralisation, offering insights for the application of similar policies in other regions, both in Portugal and internationally, to improve the effectiveness of governance and social well-being.

Keywords: Decentralisation of competencies; Social action; Local governance; Social innovation; Public policies

In this paper the proposition is made to revise the living lab method regarding three elements. Firstly, living labs cannot be established nor planned. A living lab emerges bottom-up and develops over time. In this way, ‘living’ not only refers to real life experimentation but also to the living lab itself. Secondly, learning is important in living labs but is not a goal in itself. A living lab must be action-oriented and learning must facilitate the actual implementation of the innovations. Thirdly, living labs could develop because of strengthening actions. These positive feedback loops cannot be explained by just the presence of network relations and cocreation, but underlying this is the reciprocity between actors. These three elements are based on a longitudinal participative study in a living lab in the Netherlands. The in-depth data has been analyzed from the perspective of governance, which resulted in the revision of the living lab method.

Objective: In the 21st century, local government service delivery systems that are responsive to citizens’ service delivery needs have become synonymous with a praxis directed by citizen participation. To this end, globally, there has been growing use of social innovation (SI/SI’s) in recent years to enhance citizen participation in service delivery, and to increase the efficiency and effectiveness of local government services. From a global north perspective, research shows that SI principles have been increasingly applied to enhance citizen participation in the local government service delivery system. Contrary to this, the global south perspective, particularly South Africa, shows that limited evidence of SI’s use for local government services is available. This is despite the benefits that SI’s use yields in improving local government service delivery. Moreover, tapping into society’s broader capacity to generate new knowledge and innovative solutions to address societal challenges has become necessary, particularly for South African municipalities' local government service delivery systems. This is essential for these systems to remain responsive and resilient amidst institutional resource constraints. Given SI’s latent use from a South African local government perspective, a philosophy deemed more compatible with the African context to enhance citizen participation in the local government service delivery system is the African philosophy of Ubuntu. Research shows that this philosophy intersects with the fundamental predicated in SI’s use. Focusing on the South African local government service delivery system, this paper explores the intersecting principles of SI and the African philosophy of Ubuntu as the praxis for a local government service delivery system underpinned by citizen participation.

Methodology: Through a qualitative research approach, content analysis of documents was applied concerning relevant research about SI, the philosophy of Ubuntu, citizen participation during service delivery, and local government service delivery systems. Through a range of electronic search engines, the research constructs were applied as search terms and adapted as required to identify research for inclusion in a narrative literature review. From the content analysis of documents such as grey literature and published research, emerging, prevalent and common themes about the phenomenon were explored which constitute intersecting principles.

Results: The findings show that SI and the philosophy of Ubuntu intersect through common principles. These principles are the common or collective good, common goals, communal relationality, and collaborative practices. Operationalizing the integration of these principles as a praxis for a local government service delivery system relies on the optimal functioning of its technical and social sub-systems. Moreover, these sub-systems should co-exist in equilibrium, and such a praxis should be central to the functioning of the social sub-system.

Research implications: The contribution and research implications of this paper are twofold. Firstly, from a developing country perspective, it presents a novel research area about how SI and the African philosophy of Ubuntu intersect as the praxis for local government service delivery systems underpinned by citizen participation. Secondly, it contributes to elucidating the theory and praxis around SI and ubuntu that could be considered relevant for keeping the local government service delivery system resilient and responsive amid institutional challenges. Thirdly, it explicates the intersections between social innovation and ubuntu to enhance citizen participation from a local government service delivery perspective.

The emergence of innovative technologies prompted the rethinking of public governance from diverse aspects, such as digital governance and pro-innovation policies. Against this backdrop, public management scholars have less discussed an emerging policy sector featured in technological transition and intensive state participation – the development of innovative industries. This under-investigation was partly due to the previous conceptualization of industrial development from the business-driven perspective, as understood by economic geography and some other disciplines based on their examination of the roles of business actors in promoting industrial development. In this sense, previous studies have not fully depicted different scenarios of state-business power relations, such as state-business collaboration, which is particularly evident in innovative sectors. To fill this gap, the burgeoning scholarship of New Public Governance (NPG) in public management provides an insightful lens to demonstrate the involvement and collaboration of multiple stakeholders in developing innovative industries. Based on the key NPG principles and concepts, such as inter-organizational networks, power negotiation, and coordinated policy formation (/implementation), this paper identifies three mechanisms of state-business collaboration in the context of innovative industries: (1) sharing of resources for innovation, (2) reconfiguration of innovation-oriented institutions, and (3) formation of networks between endogenous and exogenous businesses. Based on this framework, this paper examines the development of the autonomous vehicle industry in Changsha, a Chinese city with poorer technology foundations than developed cities. By employing qualitative methods, including semi-structured interviews, participatory observation, and document analysis, the empirical investigation of this paper explores how the state and business established equal power relations in growing an innovative industry with the agglomeration of high-tech firms and the upgrading of the city’s innovation capabilities. The findings showcase that through the three mechanisms above, the state collaborated with firms and leveraged firms to participate in forming and implementing policies oriented toward developing innovative industries. This paper reveals how NPG functions based on a new form of state-business power relation (i.e., state-business collaboration). As a consequence of their collaboration, the state combined its pursuits with business actors’ pursuits and altered the previous business-driven industrial development pathway into a state-business collaborative mode. By developing an NPG framework encompassing multiple mechanisms, this paper highlights the significance of bilateral state-business collaboration, instead of any party’s unilateral domination, in (re)forming policies in the context of innovative industries. This paper integrates the NPG insights into related disciplines (e.g., economic geography) and renews their previous business-driven perspective of state-business power relations in industrial development. Meanwhile, such cross-fertilization extends public management research by unpacking collaborative governance dynamics in broader policy sectors.