From institutionalisation to embeddedness

This article examines how a formally adopted collaborative governance model becomes internally institutionalised within a public administration. Its aim is to explain the mechanisms through which collaborative logics are embedded in bureaucratic routines. The study employs a longitudinal qualitative case study of the Provincial Government of Gipuzkoa (Spain), based on systematic document analysis of meeting minutes, organisational artefacts and authorising documents produced during 2020. The analysis traces the sociomaterial evolution of two key artefacts (the Project Portfolio and the Monitor) and identifies a four-phase mechanism of creating, translating, legitimising and maintaining. These mechanisms reveal how boundary objects mediate institutional work and gradually stabilise new collaborative practices inside the administration. The findings show that internal institutionalisation is not merely procedural but a sociomaterial accomplishment. The article contributes to socio-legal debates on democratic innovations by specifying how participatory logics become materially anchored and embedded within the everyday work of public bureaucracies.