Public Value Is Knowable, Public Value Creation Is Not

In response to Mark Prebble’s most inspiring ideas on the unknowability of public value, I call for a more process-oriented public value research where human needs are at center stage. Based on self-organization theory, I propose to describe public value dynamics as a complex interplay of different values linking the individual (micro) and collective (macro) level. The chapter concludes that public value is knowable at any given point, but its future direction cannot be predicted.