Private-sector actors initiating and driving local green co-creation partnerships

The literature praises the role of local co-creation for achieving the green Sustainable Development Goals, but we know precious little about what drives the initiation and successful completion of local green co-creation partnerships. To compensate this benign neglect, this article provides a purpose-built framework for understanding the conditions enabling private business or civil society entrepreneurs to initiate local co-creation of green transition projects and explaining what systemic, strategic and tactical-operational governance factors are likely to support private-sector initiators in driving such co-creation processes to a successful conclusion. The theoretical stipulations are explored through an empirical mixed-methods study of private-sector initiated green co-creation partnerships from three different parts of the world. The goal is to better understand how private-sector actors can exploit ‘collaborative advantage’ to produce city-wide green transitions.