ABSTRACT

This article explores the potential of citizen science to act as a driver of innovation within public sector institutions, with particular attention to its capacity to democratize knowledge production, reshape institutional practices, and enhance participatory governance. The central research question addresses how citizen science initiatives can influence not only the outputs of public service delivery but also the internal processes and normative frameworks through which such services are conceptualized and implemented. The underlying hypothesis posits that citizen science, when effectively integrated into public administration, facilitates more adaptive, inclusive, and epistemically pluralist forms of governance.The study adopts a qualitative comparative case study design, selecting three distinct initiatives—Project ECHO, CivicTrack, and CoPlan City Lab—based on variation in governance levels, sectoral domains, and degrees of institutionalization. Data collection methods included semistructured interviews with key stakeholders, documentary analysis of project artifacts, and participant observation at selected events. Analytical coding combined deductive categories informed by the literature with inductive insights emerging from the empirical material, allowing for a nuanced examination of institutional dynamics, power relations, and discursive formations. The findings indicate that citizen science initiatives can contribute to process innovation, yield tangible technological and procedural outputs, and modestly increase public trust in institutions. However, the study also identifies persistent structural constraints, including institutional inertia, data credibility concerns, and dependence on individual leadership. The article concludes that while citizen science holds promise for enhancing public sector responsiveness and legitimacy, its transformative potential is contingent upon deliberate institutional design, long-term investment, and a cultural shift toward shared epistemic authority within governance systems.