Partnership Between Society, Government and Business: a case of Lithuanian‘s National Agreement On Forests

Abstract

Today's society wants to be involved in decisions about its future, especially on important issues such as forest governance. Governance therefore needs to change fundamentally and be based on co-creation, allowing for partnerships between society, government and business. Co-creation is not new, both at the theoretical and practical level. However, in today's context, it requires new forms and approaches, particularly in the context of building partnerships based on trust, where different interest groups - economic, ecological and societal, as well as political institutions, intersect. The aim of the study is therefore to assess the experience of the first attempt to apply co-creation in Lithuanian forest policy (the case of the National Agreement on Forests) and to identify the problematic aspects of the involvement of different stakeholder groups. The study examines the practical aspects of the application of the co-creation principle, based on interviews with representatives of various sectoral interest groups and politicians involved in the process. This will provide guidance on how to implement the co-creation principle more effectively in the future.