Co-creation in public utilities: The case of district heating networks

Public authorities are committing to the decarbonization of economies. Public utilities especially district heating networkscould serve as critical levers for cutting carbon emissions. Heat production accounts for about fifty percent of the global energy consumption and is still heavily carbonized. Fossil-free and locally-based district heating systems are being promoted and implemented with the support of public authorities. These innovative systems raise challenges as they integrate a greater variety of stakeholders than conventional ones. To maximize the creation of public value, public authorities have been setting up co-creation processes with these stakeholders. This paper analyzes how co-creation processes are used in district heating projects, using a framework that revolves around three co-creation activities: setting up a collaborative network, defining the collaborative governance and assessing and learning from project outcomes. These activities are studied throughout the lifecycle of five projects: three innovative district heating networks and two conventional ones. Innovative projects are expected to demonstrate more articulated and elaborate forms of co-creation compared to conventional counterparts, including more activities and a greater diversity of stakeholders involved. The data comes from twenty-seven semi-structured interviews, informal discussions with project stakeholders, and an analysis of project documentspartly publicly available, partly confidential. The research findings focus on (1) demonstrating and explaining the use of co-creation within the selected cases and (2) discussing the critical limitations of and barriers to the integration of co-creation in the utility sector.