Dialog och medskapande i vår tids stora samhällsomdaning

The Great Transformation of our time, amalgamating the local with the global demands new modes of governance and management. Increased variety and diversity of the population as well as the complexity of social issues are changing the prerequisites of social sustainability. The aim of this article is to discuss how this transformation strengthens the importance of citizens’ co-creation as regards identification of the problems, measures to be taken as well as the implementation of the same. The article furthermore discusses the role of trans-disciplinary knowledge production and its possible contribution to a socially sustainable development, as well as how current modes of governance influence the room for manoeuver and conditions for co-creation. Three mental shifts are considered necessary. The first relates to the importance of viewing city residents as citizens with rights and responsibilities and not only as customers and consumers. The second concerns the shift of the view what knowledge is and what it could be and the third relates to how the question of power should be conceptualized.