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Managing multi-stakeholder co-creation to address grand challenges: The role of paradox management capabilities

Author

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  • De Silva, Muthu
  • Rossi, Federica
  • Paunov, Caroline

Abstract

Addressing Grand Challenges such as disruptive sustainability require transformative innovations and policy frameworks that enable coordinated, systemic, multi-stakeholder co-creation. Yet, we have limited understanding of the capabilities needed to manage the paradoxical tensions that arise in multi-stakeholder co-creation networks. We make an original contribution by using an evidence base composed of 30 co-creation initiatives from 21 countries and 3 transnational initiatives, developed to address challenges relating to the COVID-19 pandemic, a Grand Challenge characterized, exactly like disruptive sustainability, by large scale, complexity, and uncertainty. Our findings advance paradox theory by articulating six higher-order paradox-management capabilities needed to manage paradoxes relating to two levels of transformative innovation, project co-creation and programme co-creation. For each of these higher-order capabilities, we identify more specific routine capabilities that allow partners to manage these paradoxes to achieve swift and successful co-creation for disruptive sustainability. We provide implications for policy and practice.

Suggested Citation

  • De Silva, Muthu & Rossi, Federica & Paunov, Caroline, 2026. "Managing multi-stakeholder co-creation to address grand challenges: The role of paradox management capabilities," Research Policy, Elsevier, vol. 55(2).
    • Handle: RePEc:eee:respol:v:55:y:2026:i:2:s0048733325002379
    DOI: 10.1016/j.respol.2025.105408
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