How Can Co-Creation Support Capacity Building for Adaptive Spatial Planning? Exploring Evidence from a Co-Creative Planning Process in The Netherlands

Abstract

To cope with the multi-faceted challenges our world is increasingly confronted with, new planning approaches aimed at integration and collaboration are adopted. Co-creation is one of them. In literature, co-creation is described as facilitating innovation and creativity. Similar to other collaborative approaches, it can build institutional capacity and thereby adaptivity for coping with current challenges. Through an in-depth study of the case of replanning the Hegewarren polder in the Netherlands, we show that a co-creation process can support the development of institutional capacity by enhancing its three components – intellectual, social, and political capital.

Keywords:

• Co-creation
• institutional capacity building
• intellectual capital
• social capital
• political capital

Acknowledgements

The author(s) would like to thank the Province of Friesland for providing access to the Hegewarren case, to the interviewees for participating in this research, and to Reinder Boomsma for his assistance with interviews in the Frisian language.

Disclosure Statement

No potential conflict of interest is reported by the author(s).

Additional information

Funding

This work was supported by the European Union’s Horizon 2020 research and innovation programme under the Marie Skłodowska-Curie grant agreement No 765389.

Notes on contributors

Maria Alina Rădulescu

Maria Alina Rădulescu is a PhD candidate at the Faculty of Spatial Sciences of the University of Groningen. She is also a researcher at the Energy Law Section of the Faculty of Law from the University of Groningen, where she conducts research in the field of public participation in environmental and energy matters.

Wim Leendertse

Wim Leendertse works as a senior advisor at Rijkswaterstaat, the executive organization of the Dutch Ministry of Infrastructure and Water Management. He is also part-time professor Management in Infrastructure Planning at the University of Groningen at the Faculty of Spatial Sciences, department of Planning.

Jos Arts

Jos Arts is professor Environment and Infrastructure Planning, University of Groningen, The Netherlands. He is also extraordinary professor at the Unit Environmental Sciences & Management, North West University, Potchefstroom, South-Africa. His research focuses on institutional analysis and design for integrated planning approaches for sustainable infrastructure networks.