LIST OF PANELS

Shrinking resources, discontented electorates and complex problems of the last decade have prompted the public sector to look for new ways of governing, and developing and delivering public services. In this effort, design has been heralded as a central concept to innovate public policy, service delivery and its governance. Design is seen as a means to improve people- or user-centeredness, which in a co-productive or co-creative way bridges the gap between public policies, services and citizens’ needs and expectations, and environmental challenges (Thorpe & Gamman, 2016; Thomas & Grace, 2008; Junginger, 2014; Mulgan, 2014, Sangiorgi, 2015).

To facilitate such a design approach, all kinds of ‘learning-by-doing’ methods (e.g. design experiments, living labs, and collaborative design sessions) are rapidly gaining popularity in public administration (Bason, 2017), in order to co-create value with involved stakeholders and in particular service users to strengthen the people-orientation in public policy and services and collectively solve complex challenges (Howlett, 2014).

Although the notion of public administration as a design science is certainly not new (Simon, 1971; Miller, 1984; Shangraw & Crow, 1997; Meyer, 2005), there is much that we do not know about the application of design-oriented methods to public policy, governance, management and services. Further, the contribution of design as a co-production strategy within public sector contexts needs further debate (Bason 2010, 2017). The rise of living labs, field labs and pilot programs in which all kinds of (participatory) design methods are applied, illustrates the increasing attention for this exploratory and experimental style of policy-making, governance and public service delivery. However the public context in which design-thinking is applied, also raises serious dilemmas and questions (Hillgren et al. 2011).

Hence, this panel is dedicated to exploring the principles, methodological underpinnings, challenges and practices of applying design-oriented approaches to the field of public policy and governance. In particular, the panel seeks to explore how design-led approaches contribute on the one hand, to policy and governance innovations (design of policy), and on the other hand, the extent to which a design approach is an effective way to generate more rigorous insights into practices of public policy and governance. The latter element embodies important questions about the effective application of design-thinking methods, their methodological rigor and their applicability as scientifically valid methods to enhance our empirical knowledge of real-world problems. .

Therefore, this panel seeks to contribute to the following questions:

• How can the methodological rigor and replicability of design methodologies in public management and policy environments be enhanced;
• What are theoretical and empirical conditions that support the effective application and integration of (collaborative) design-led approaches within public sector and government;
• What is the value (in terms of legitimacy, creativity and problem-solving capacity) and ultimately the impact of design-led approaches (e.g. policy labs; living labs and other innovative methods) to value creation in public policy and governance (health care, culture, education, social interventions, transportation, safety etc.);
• What limitations and routes for improvement of design-led approaches can be determined for the innovation of public policy and wider institutional change?

Lately, (co)design has been heralded as a central concept to innovate public policy, public service delivery and its governance (Bason, 2017). Associated potential involves innovated policy (Blomkamp, 2018); integrated knowledge, generated from different stakeholders (Chindarkar et al. 2017); and more legitimate, user-centered public policy (Bailey and Lloyd, 2016).

However, the academic field of design in public administration and public policy is still relatively underdeveloped with a strong conceptual focus, rather than empirically validating whether the premise of design holds within the complex reality of public policy creation. This panel welcomes therefore papers that illustrate practices and potentials of design thinking or design approaches to solve governance issues. We also welcome conceptual reflections about the meaning and possible approaches of design thinking for governance and public policy. Concretely, this panel aims at:

• Enhancing the methodological rigor and relevance of design methodologies in public management and policy environments;
• Offering theoretical and empirical explorations of the conditions that support the effective application and integration of collaborative design-led approaches within public sector and government;
• Exploring and evaluate the value and impact of design-led approaches to value creation in policy making and public service delivery (health care, culture, education, social interventions, transportation, safety etc.);
• Identifying and discussing limitations and routes for improvement of design-led approaches for the innovation of public service provision and wider institutional change. 

Besides traditional paper presentations, we welcome contributors who wish to demonstrate a working prototype illustrating how this was developed and tested.