Conference Agenda

The SDG-8 promotes decent work and economic growth and has been a policy concern in India. The introduction and mission-mode type of implementation of Skill India has attracted many policy readers due to its implementation style, impact, and value addition. Earlier, such training had a considerable role in occupational status and had been established among backward sections. To evaluate the quality of the implementation process by recognising development as a multi-stakeholder process. The qualitative study evaluates the implementation of PPP in short-term skilling initiatives in India by assessing network governance from the perspective of policy implementation agencies (PIAs). Eight Aspirational districts of Uttar Pradesh were chosen to gauge the role of middle-level actors in the skill policy in the context of regional backwardness. A semi-structured, in-depth interview with 31 PIA representatives helped us gauge the network mechanism and the agency in performative actions of PIAs to sustain their service networks in rural India. By analysing the data through reflexive thematic analysis, we found the impactful presence of ‘parallel realities’ with the network mechanism where the role of formal and informal institutions is crucial. Four major themes were identified, explaining the functioning and performance of the overall network governance mechanisms in a lead organisation governance setup. The themes also demonstrated the effectiveness and lapses of decentralised forms of policy implementation to recommend policy suggestions for challenging contexts.

Many local governments are adopting collaborative governance to solve problems in order to revitalize and innovate their regions. However, building a collaborative network requires long-term relationship building with a variety of private actors and ongoing complex project management. In current governance theory has focused on collaborative governance (Ansell and Gash 2008; Emerson and Nabatchi 2012) and the design of interactive platforms and arenas to generate social innovation. On the other hand, there is still immature discussion on how to evaluate and accumulate the results of collaboration, and how the government can turn these results into solutions to long-term, structural issues.

Previously, network governance theory and meta-governance research has argued that norms, rules, and goals contribute to network integration (Goldsmith and Eggers 2004; Torfing, Peters, Pierre and Sørensen 2012), but when considering indirect means of such network integration, it should be useful to draw on the concept of management philosophy. Therefore, from the perspective of management philosophy, this study positions strategy as an accumulation system of the results of collaborative networks and focuses on the connection between network management and strategy. In this study, management philosophy is defined as management that aims to ensure that management philosophy effectively function as the most basic selection criterion for staffs when deciding their actions as a basic philosophy (Itami 2024). From this perspective, the purpose of this study is to examine how local governments can utilize the results of collaborative networks in their long-term regional strategies.

As a research method, we use a case study (Yin 2014) to examine the process of strategy formation that serves as a context for integrating the results of collaborative networks and draw out implications. The case study used is Mikasa City, Hokkaido, which was once Japan's largest coal mining city. Using the example of the city, we will highlight the position and function of the management philosophy in the strategic formation of successive mayors over time.

The conclusion drawn from the study is that a strategy aligned with the region's management philosophy should focus on integrating the results of the region's thematic collaborative networks. In this case, the theoretical foundations of the local management philosophy are the charismatic mayor's management philosophy and the local traditional value of "the spirit of collaboration." Successor mayors have developed them in an integrated manner based on the strategies put forward by their charismatic mayor, such as the city's philosophy, long-term vision, concepts, and policy guidelines, thereby ensuring consistency as a strategy and creating a context. In line with this philosophy and strategy, the city has steadily increased its collaborative network as a place for private actors to play an active role and has succeeded in attracting external talent and tourists and cultivating local talent. Thus, it can be said that the strategy has contributed to the elaboration of the concept of network governance by demonstrating the potential for collaborative networks to function as meta-governance.

In the last decade, governments—particularly in Europe—have increasingly focused attention and policies on mitigating the climate crisis (European Commission, 2021). While the green is crucial for the sustainability of human life, without proper governance and the involvement of different communities, it could disproportionately harm the most vulnerable communities (Ansell et al., 2022; Sovacool, 2021; Theminimulle et al., 2024). Although several studies have aimed to understand the environmental or technical aspects of the green transition, less attention has been given to the social impact and the needs of engaging with the communities (Sovacool, 2021).

During the last decades, several scholars have explored a wide range of initiatives and collaborations among different actors that could help to meet increasing inequalities (Calò et al., 2024; Scognamiglio et al., 2023). However, very few of them have focussed specifically on managing the green transition. Among potential initiatives, collaborative governance, which involves a wide range of actors in “deliberative processes through which problems are identified and defined and new creative solutions are designed and implemented” (Nielsen et al., 2024, p. 3716; Emerson and Nabatchi, 2015; Peters et al., 2022) has emerged as a pathway towards managing green transition and a more equitable future (Bryson et al., 2017; Montgomery & Mazzei, 2021; Sovacool et al., 2023). Although recent studies have examined the role of collaborative governance in supporting the green transition (for a recent review of the literature see Nielson et al., 2024), a gap remains in the literature regarding whether, how, and under which circumstances these processes lead to outcomes, and public value (Nielsen et al., 2024; Voorberg et al., 2015, Sovacool et al., 2023).

To address this gap, our paper aims to comparatively, longitudinally and empirically understand the contextual variables, mechanisms and related outcomes of co-creation processes involving a wide range of actors engaged in the carbon capture and storage field. For doing so, a realist evaluation approach is used, by collecting data in five different co-creation processes established and led by different organisations in Italy, UK, Netherlands, Norway, France. The cases have been studied using repeated longitudinal interviews, research diaries and observations as part of a Horizon Europe funded project ENCASE. Our findings, in this moment of time, are based on a total of 28 interviews for a total of approximately 28 hours; 24 observation meetings for a total of 18 hours; and observation of events for a total of 10 hours. Based on preliminary analysis, co-creation activities might be a successful way of increasing the knowledge and awareness about CCUS but in particular to favour the establishment of a new culture inside research infrastructure. A mix of bottom-up and top-down approaches in the co-creation process should be favoured to provide the possibility to stakeholders to take decisions and at the same time advancing the processes. To be successful adequate long-term funding should be provided and training should be put in place for supporting the development of co-creation skills, and a long-term strategic plan should be established to achieve successful stakeholders’ involvement.

Ecosystems have gained traction in public administration research to challenge conventional public sector organizational modes (Sundberg & Gidlund, 2024), promising a more comprehensive, interconnected, and adaptive perspective on service delivery (Dudau, 2025). This is especially true for public service ecosystems, comprising loosely connected, resource-integrating actors, cohered by value co-creation and shared institutional arrangements (Vargo & Lusch, 2016). Previous studies suggest that public service ecosystems are tech-savvy and malleable making them compatible with complex, rapidly changing environments prompted by novel technologies (Petrescu, 2019). Moreover, due to their nested nature, public service ecosystems are well-suited for investigating public service innovations (Chen et al., 2020), aiming to improve efficiency, address diverse needs, and enhance service delivery (Albury, 2005). Here, institutional arrangements – converging rules, norms, symbols, meanings, and practices - are crucial as they both enable and constrain collaboration, and ultimately, value co-creation among the diverse actors involved in delivering public services (Koskela-Huotari & Vargo, 2016; Vargo & Lusch, 2016). However, to what extent institutional arrangements contribute to an ecosystem’s success or failure requires further investigation. Thus, this research addresses the following question: Do shared institutional arrangements (legislative, normative) influence tie formation in public service ecosystems?

Regarding institutional arrangements, the literature distinguishes between legislative and normative factors influencing public service ecosystem performance. Legislative factors promoting success include common rules (Ojasalo & Kauppinen, 2024), regulatory support (Roy et al., 2024), and governance mechanisms (Anttiroiko & Sahamies, 2022), while rigid structures (Rossi et al., 2024) and service fragmentation (Hietala & Paivarinta, 2023) are obstacles. Normative factors, such as jointly developed standards (Sahamies & Anttiroiko, 2024) and shared goals (Cui & Aulton, 2023) promote success, whereas power imbalances (Engen et al., 2021) a lack of transparency (Gyllenhammar et al., 2023), and misaligned behaviors (Cui & Osborne, 2023) can impede it.

The study conducts a comparative analysis of two cases in healthcare service delivery in the EUREGIO region along the German Dutch border: a cross-border specialist and a shared ambulance pool. Both cases are examined for common institutional arrangements. This study applies social network analysis to investigate the impact of institutional arrange-ments to predict tie formation among healthcare providers with Exponential Random Graph Models (ERGMs). ERGMs provide a quantitative approach to model and test net-works, examining how shared characteristics influence the likelihood of collaboration and emphasizing the role of institutional similarity in forming network ties. Data is collected using surveys, semi-structured interviews, and document analysis, to capture both quantitative network data and get qualitative insights for a comprehensive understanding of institutional arrangements influencing cross-border collaboration in healthcare. Nodes represent providers, and undirected binary edges indicate reciprocal institutional linkages (legislative and normative). The ERGM tests if institutional similarity increases collaboration, while considering network effects like homophily, reciprocity, transitivity, and degree centrality. The model also controls for node-level covariates (e.g., country affiliation) and edge-level covariates (e.g., geographic proximity). Based on this analysis, this study will be able to assess whether shared institutional arrangements facilitate or constrain tie formation in pub-lic service ecosystems in a cross-border healthcare context.