Between constraint co-production and real co-creation of public services: citizen involvement as public service innovation. Lessons from Poland

Over the past few years, the concepts of co-production and co-creation, along with innovation, have been promoted to the top of the public sector agenda across the globe. However, in certain regions, such as Poland, they have rarely been teamed together. This study aims to contribute, by seeking to define the relationship that could exist in Poland between citizen and community involvement in the design and delivery of primary education services and those innovations which are systemic in nature, such as policy and politics, governance, and rhetorical (conceptual) innovation. The author answers the question of whether co-production/co-creation and innovation coexist in primary education in Poland. This study is based on theoretical analysis, and on the results of the author's research conducted amongst parents and teachers from primary schools run by different types of providers (municipalities and community organizations), representatives of local governments and educational experts. We have investigated three Polish cases which confirmed that citizen and community involvement may successfully spur systemic innovations in education. In these cases, citizens and communities act in their rarest of innovative roles, which is as co-initiators, while their general role in education has been limited to co-production instead of enhancing co-creation.