2025 Innovation Library

Meghalaya, a state in northeast India, has historically had high maternal mortality. The population is spread across 6000 small villages in hilly terrain, making service delivery difficult. Recognizing the limitations of a top-down approach, we built leadership and a sense of purpose through two key organizational practices.

First, the team built cross-sectoral teams at all levels of the state and formed village health councils that were empowered to diagnose and address their local challenges. The practice unleashed their creative power and helped build a stronger sense of purpose.

Second, the team restored connections among citizens and different parts of the state systems through regular reviews and field visits. Reviews helped everyone align on our purpose, raise systemic challenges, and share and celebrate successes. Field visits helped build trust with communities and uncover novel issues and insights.

These practices enabled local innovations and eventually led to systemic reforms. For instance, an empowered team of medical officers in a district identified that many women were not able to come to health facilities in time. They started supporting women to stay near health facilities before delivery. The state leadership then scaled this idea by establishing citizen-run transit homes, for pregnant women from remote villages to stay near health facilities.

As a result of this and other local innovations, maternal deaths were reduced by almost 50% from 2021 to 2023.

By State Capability Enhancement Project of the Government Innovation Lab, Government of Meghalaya | India

*This project was selected by the Creative Bureaucracy Festival jury as one of the top submissions to the 2025 Call for Participation and invited to present live at the Creative Bureaucracy Festival in Berlin on 2-3 June 2025.*

UrbanLab for Green Cities is an innovation programme that brings citizens together to dream up, design and pilot creative solutions for our cities. The project mixes design thinking, educational science, and public participation into an interdisciplinary method that turns local challenges into opportunities for urban sustainable development. The yearly editions offer citizens the chance to shape their cities on key topics such as community & education, digital technology, urban design.

UrbanLab for Green Cities is not just a competition; it is a complex process that builds innovation mindsets and skills among citizens. They learn how to come up with new ideas in a hackathon, validate the solutions in an incubator, and eventually pilot the projects locally. Guided by industry-expert mentors and with a dedicated toolkit, participants go from urban problems to local pilot projects in under a year.

With 12 editions in 6  cities in Romania, UrbanLab for Green Cities has facilitated the creation of over 50  solutions ready for piloting and is now supporting Romania’s national platform for climate neutrality as a participatory mechanism. From modular designs that regenerate residential green spaces to sharing hubs for circular economy, the solutions help shape more sustainable, inclusive, and smart cities. Join us to hear more about how UrbanLab for Green Cities is creating the space citizen-led experimentation in cities.

By UrbanizeHub | Romania

*This project was selected by the Creative Bureaucracy Festival jury as one of the standout submissions to the Creative Bureaucracy Festival’s 2025 Call for Participation.*

*This project was selected by our community to be presented live at the Creative Bureaucracy Festival 2025 through the Community Voting process.*

The Digital Transformation Co-Creation Platform is a community created by and for public officers in Japan. Through an innovative blend of online and offline collaboration, the community has transformed how public officers cooperate across traditional organizational boundaries to co-create policies and services. In Japan, local government officers play a significant role as most public services are delivered by the 1,700+ local governments. This vast number, combined with traditional hierarchies and organizational silos, has historically posed challenges to effective national-local collaboration, especially in digital public services where continuous feedback is essential.

Growing from hundreds of smaller flat groups in 2021, the Co-Creation Platform now connects over 10,000 public officers from around 1,400 local governments as of Nov. 2024. Managed by the Digital Agency, the community led by public officers facilitates direct and horizontal relationships between national and local government officers through online and offline communication. The real-time interactions turn the community into a living knowledge repository, enabling public officers to learn from past experiences, build upon each other's successes, and create joint initiatives. Through simple yet effective digital tools, the community has transformed the relationship between national and local government officers from a top-down system to an inclusive flat community driven by an understanding of change.

By Digital Agency | Japan

*This project was selected by the Creative Bureaucracy Festival jury as one of the standout submissions to the Creative Bureaucracy Festival’s 2025 Call for Participation.*

“More Fish for You & Me” seeks to explain the increasing concern of the unsustainable fishing practices in Bamusso.  As demand for fresh fish rises in Bamusso, overfishing, use of small net sizes and other dynamite to kill fish has become a significant environmental issue threatening marine biodiversity and the livelihood of those who depend on fishing. Fishermen are compelled to travel over 10 miles into high sea for fishing while fish mongers are unable to meet up with buyers' demand.

Through community engagement, and partnership with local stakeholders, the goal of the project is to inspire a shift towards more sustainable consumption patterns and better preservation of ocean resources. By raising awareness about marine conservation, it advocates for effective fishing regulations that prevent overfishing and supports the recovery of endangered species.

The initiative also provides training on improved fishing methods and eco-friendly aquaculture fish farm, in collaboration with OKF Aquafish Farm, to ease pressure on wild fish stocks. It encourages collaboration with schools and council to replant degraded mangrove forest and improve biodiversity of Bamusso ecosystem hence better environment for fish breeding.

By emphasizing responsible fishing and sharing global success stories, “More Fish for You & Me” will create a more sustainable and equitable future for both the people and the community ensuring the ocean remains a vital source of life for generations to come.

By Rural Development Agents, Bamusso Council, MINEPIA Cameroon | Cameroon

*This project was selected by the Creative Bureaucracy Festival jury as one of the standout submissions to the Creative Bureaucracy Festival’s 2025 Call for Participation.*

To increase the satisfaction of Nahefu members who use the Emergency Law (Ley de Urgencia, LU), the idea of using AI in LU cases was born. For this reason, Nahefu officials co-creatively designed, tested, and implemented the Predictive Relevance Model (Modelo Predictivo de Pertinencia, MPP).

The MPP is integrated into the review, validation, and payment system, which combines clinical, administrative, and financial criteria to review LU cases. The machine performs an objective and impartial measurement of parameters and resolves according to defined criteria. If it passes the three criteria, payment is authorized. If it does not pass one or more criteria, the resolution will be manual. The MPP is available for use throughout the country and does not represent a financial cost for Nahefu.

The MPP is sustainable over time since it is carried out with internal Nahefu resources and uses a standard methodology from the data mining market (CRISP-DM and R and Python programming languages), which are freely available. The MPP project becomes an essential solution for the efficient operation of the LU case review. In terms of optimization, a protocol was defined for machine training over time and clinical criteria review processes.

The MPP demonstrates that with creativity, collaboration, innovation, and desire, changes can be made in the management of health insurance. It shows that innovation can be done from within and also impact organizational culture.

By Fondo Nacional de Salud (FONASA) | Chile

*This project was selected by the Creative Bureaucracy Festival jury as one of the standout submissions to the Creative Bureaucracy Festival’s 2025 Call for Participation.*

The LOTI Sandbox in Adult Social Care brings together key stakeholders to explore how the latest tech, data and innovation can help solve systemic challenges. The project focused on adult social care, a critical issue for local government marked by rising demand and budget pressures.

This cross-sector space enables a holistic approach to tackling complex challenges, refining ideas and gathering evidence of effective solutions. It’s designed to overcome common innovation barriers in local government, including limited capacity, high risks and lack of collaboration. It also supports the co-production of solutions that solve complex issues across an entire system like that of health and care, dismantling silos in the process.

The team began with research to understand the system problems, mapping user journeys and developing personas. They then gathered frontline practitioners and suppliers and used immersive theatre to visualise the challenges and opportunities as individuals interact across the system.

An iterative design sprint enabled the team to transform ideas into six prototypes, each addressing specific social care challenges. Equipped with the six prototypes, working directly with stakeholders that have been involved in the Sandbox process from the start, they demonstrated these prototypes at a solutions showcase event, using immersive theatre to illustrate the potential positive impact these prototypes can have for residents and health and social care staff.

By London Office of Technology and Innovation | United Kingdom

*This project was selected by the Creative Bureaucracy Festival jury as one of the standout submissions to the Creative Bureaucracy Festival’s 2025 Call for Participation.*

The K100 Citizens’ Waterway Project is a testament to how creative engagement with bureaucracy can drive urban transformation. Bangalore’s stormwater drains, once part of an intricate water system, have been neglected due to the city’s rapid growth, contributing to urban flooding. Addressing this challenge required rethinking the interaction with infrastructure and governance while navigating a complex bureaucratic ecosystem.

At Mod Foundation, the team works within the existing system to pave the way for processes that promote accountability, inclusivity, and innovation. The organization challenges conventional infrastructure design by embedding culture into its very fabric—a concept referred to as “Infraculture.”

To transform the water network into a vibrant public space, the project team restructured workflows, leveraged policies, and navigated jurisdictions to integrate flood resilience, sewage management, and public space revitalization. More importantly, the team introduced design interventions as cultural inserts, making infrastructure visible and interactive and fostering a deeper connection between citizens and their environment.

This creative bureaucracy—a collaboration between government, civil society, and communities—has enabled institutional shifts, long-term accountability, and public participation. The result is a revitalized waterway that not only improves drainage and mitigates flooding but also fosters community ownership, setting a new precedent for urban water governance and public space in Bangalore.

By Mod Foundation | India

*This project was selected by the Creative Bureaucracy Festival jury as one of the standout submissions to the Creative Bureaucracy Festival’s 2025 Call for Participation.*

*This project was selected by our community to be presented live at the Creative Bureaucracy Festival 2025 through the Community Voting process.*

The Student Auditor Project has already involved 93 schools and directly impacted 3,720 students in the city of Belo Horizonte in Brazil, promoting a space for youth leadership and social control in the school environment. The project aims to stimulate active citizenship among elementary and adult education students, promoting civic education and youth leadership in the conservation of public heritage, management, and improvement of the school environment. The project seeks to strengthen the sense of belonging and engagement in public administration. After training, the "student auditors" conduct school audits, identify issues, and propose accessible solutions. The results are discussed with the school community, encouraging reflection and continuous improvements. At the end, an evaluation measures the impact on civic awareness and social control.

By Controladoria-Geral do Município de Belo Horizonte | Brazil

*This project was selected by the Creative Bureaucracy Festival jury as one of the standout submissions to the Creative Bureaucracy Festival’s 2025 Call for Participation.*

*This project was selected by our community to be presented live at the Creative Bureaucracy Festival 2025 through the Community Voting process.*

Jeppis Gallup is a resident panel, free to join for all the residents of Jakobstad. It is a simple, cost-effective and participatory tool that works very well both from the town's perspective and from the resident's perspective. At the moment, there are 865 residents in the panel. These panelists get a survey called "the question of the week" to their email every second Wednesday. The survey takes around 1-2 minutes to take and is always about a current topic for the town. The survey is published in Swedish, Finnish and English. After the survey, a report is published on the town's web page with the results, the town's comment on how to proceed with the matter and the contact information to the person responsible for the survey.

By The town of Jakobstad | Finland

*This project was selected by the Creative Bureaucracy Festival jury as one of the standout submissions to the Creative Bureaucracy Festival’s 2025 Call for Participation.*

How can cities tackle complex societal challenges? The Liveability Project brings together 11 partners, incl. six pioneering cities—Kiel, Gdynia, Guldborgsund, Kolding, Pori, and Riga—alongside 15 associated organizations.  Together, they developed the Liveability Design Approach (LDA), an integrated capacity-building framework fostering creativity, collaboration, and sustainability for cities and their administration.

Symbolized by a blooming flower, the LDA integrates a city’s identity (roots), guiding charter (trunk), principles (leaves), liveability characteristics (petals), training program, and emerging projects (seeds), all woven together into a cohesive framework. The Charter for Designing Liveable Cities anchors this approach, integrating public interest design principles into public administration and citizen engagement. A hands-on training program ensures lasting impact by helping cities continuously apply the methodology to new challenges.

The partner cities serve as "living laboratories," testing the design approach in areas like welfare innovation, urban revitalization, and participatory governance. As these cities twin with new partners, they expand impact and refine methodologies.

In 2025, the project will evolve into the Liveable Cities Network, fostering collaboration and knowledge-sharing. Cities embracing LDA will earn the “Liveable City” label, recognizing their commitment to public interest design-driven governance. 

By Heinrich-Böll-Foundation SH & the Liveability project partnership | EU

*This project was selected by the Creative Bureaucracy Festival jury as one of the standout submissions to the Creative Bureaucracy Festival’s 2025 Call for Participation.*

The future of work is increasingly uncertain, shaped by technological innovation, demographic shifts, and evolving societal values. How do we see the future of our working lives? What do you wish, hope and fear, and how can government stimulate innovative ideas to create and attractive and sustainable future of work? In the exhibition 'Workplace 2040', visitors explore four distinct desks, each representing a possible 2040 working environment, engaging with everyday objects from these futures. The goal is to foster a public dialogue about the future of work, gathering insights to shape innovative and inclusive policies. By putting people's needs at the center, the project team aims to create future-facing, sustainable policies that embrace uncertainty and change. This video offers a sneak peek at the 'desks of the future' and presents key insights from the project, which was previously exhibited at Dutch Design Week 2024.

By Ministry of Social Affairs and Employment (The Netherlands), Komovo, Studio Futurall | Netherlands

*This project was selected by the Creative Bureaucracy Festival jury as one of the standout submissions to the Creative Bureaucracy Festival’s 2025 Call for Participation.*

Mining Project: Unlocking Dormant Judicial Funds for Social Impact is a groundbreaking initiative within Brazil’s Labor Justice system that redefines bureaucracy as a force for equity and efficiency. By identifying and reallocating dormant judicial funds, the project ensures that rightful beneficiaries receive overdue payments and that unused resources are redirected to pressing public needs. Since its inception, Mining Project has uncovered over R$58,61 billion, transforming forgotten judicial deposits into impactful solutions. This initiative exemplifies creative bureaucracy in action, leveraging data-driven technologies, cross-sector collaboration, and transparency to optimize judicial efficiency. It integrates Business Intelligence (BI) tools, national registries, and Court intelligence cooperation to locate claimants, even in complex cases involving deceased individuals. In 2024, Mining Project played a crucial role in Brazil’s largest disaster recovery effort, reallocating R$164 million in dormant funds to assist victims of the Rio Grande do Sul floods. This demonstrates how innovative judicial administration can adapt to emergencies, providing real-time solutions for urgent societal challenges. Mining Project is not just a judicial tool—it is a model for systemic change, proving that even in highly structured bureaucracies, innovation, adaptability, and collaboration can transform inefficiencies into powerful mechanisms for justice and public good.

By Tribunal Regional do Trabalho da 21ª Região | Brazil

*This project was selected by the Creative Bureaucracy Festival jury as one of the standout submissions to the Creative Bureaucracy Festival’s 2025 Call for Participation.*

The Digital transition for farmers and rural communities is complex and context-specific and requires tailored solutions. This toolkit aids policymakers in drafting a digitalisation strategy through a set of playing cards.

By EU Policy Lab | Belgium

*This project was selected by the Creative Bureaucracy Festival jury as one of the standout submissions to the Creative Bureaucracy Festival’s 2025 Call for Participation.*

The Transformation & Innovation team at the Regional Association of Westphalia-Lippe (LWL) has been working as a self-organized team since 2024. Without a traditional manager, we actively shape change, develop innovative solutions, and promote new ways of working. Our approach is built on clearly defined roles, transparent processes, and the agile mindset of "safe enough to try," which encourages pragmatic action and continuous learning.

Self-organization is often surrounded by myths:

"Everyone just does whatever they want!"
Clearly defined roles, governance meetings, and transparent communication provide structure and reliability. Decisions are made either autonomously within individual roles or by consent, without lengthy coordination processes. Our focus is on efficiency and achieving shared goals.

"Self-organization takes forever and leads to conflict!"
Tensions are addressed regularly in retrospectives, and our team charter provides guidance for how we work together. This strengthens psychological safety and enables diverse perspectives to be shared and integrated productively.

"It only works in start-ups!"
Self-leadership can also succeed in the public sector when trust and a culture of learning are firmly established. Responsibility and innovation go hand in hand.

Self-organization is an ongoing journey. However, its benefits—from increased motivation to greater innovation capacity—speak for themselves. Guided by our purpose, "Bringing a fresh breeze to the LWL of the future!", we are committed to continuing along this path.

By Landschaftsverband Westfalen-Lippe (LWL) | Germany

*This project was selected by the Creative Bureaucracy Festival jury as one of the top submissions to the 2025 Call for Participation and invited to present live at the Creative Bureaucracy Festival in Berlin on 2-3 June 2025.*

In response to the challenges posed by the COVID-19 pandemic, the City of Kiel established the FLEX to rapidly and strategically deploy staff capacity wherever it is most needed. The FLEX serves as a flexible staffing unit, bringing together employees with diverse professional backgrounds who are temporarily assigned to different departments across the city administration for periods of three, six, or nine months.

During these assignments, FLEX staff provide support in leadership, administrative operations, and project management. They help relieve pressure on colleagues, maintain and strengthen the administration's operational capacity, drive sustainable transformation, share knowledge and best practices across departments, and contribute in many other ways.

By enabling flexible deployment of skilled employees, the FLEX enhances organizational resilience while fostering collaboration, learning, and innovation throughout the city administration.

By Landeshauptstadt Kiel | Germany

*This project was selected by the Creative Bureaucracy Festival jury as one of the standout submissions to the Creative Bureaucracy Festival’s 2025 Call for Participation.*

Many government projects include formal consultation with affected stakeholders, for example through consultations with federal states, professional associations, or in accordance with EU legal requirements. However, these consultations often take place within very limited timeframes and in formats that primarily encourage stakeholders to present their established positions. As a result, conflicts are emphasized and opposing viewpoints become further polarized.

As part of the project, a new engagement format was piloted to bring together stakeholders, representatives from different government departments, and ministry staff in a constructive dialogue. The aim was to identify areas of common ground and develop solutions that would be broadly supported by all parties involved.

The experience gained from the pilot showed that this approach can improve the quality of decision-making, reduce conflict and resistance, and establish a constructive tone for the remainder of the process. The accompanying video provides insights into the pilot, including its design, preparation, implementation, and outcomes. Drawing on the lessons learned, the project explores how similar formats could be adopted and embedded more systematically within public administration, as well as the institutional conditions needed to enable open, workshop-based dialogue between public authorities and stakeholder representatives.

By Bundesministerium für Wirtschaft und Klimaschutz | Germany

*This project was selected by the Creative Bureaucracy Festival jury as one of the standout submissions to the Creative Bureaucracy Festival’s 2025 Call for Participation.*

YOUTH SHAPES COMMUNITIES is an innovative toolkit that provides small rural municipalities with practical tools to sustainably involve young people in local decision-making processes. The project demonstrates how youth participation can be designed not only as a one-off activity, but as a structural and long-term approach – and why this is particularly important for fostering vibrant democracy in rural regions.

In the video, you will learn how a co-creative innovation process led to the creation of a cross-border partnership between Germany, Austria, and Switzerland. We provide insights into the development of the toolkit – from the initial analysis and pilot projects through to practical implementation.

Be inspired by how public administration, politics, and civil society can work together to strengthen youth participation and democracy across rural areas – creating benefits for all generations.

By Kreis Rendsburg-Eckernförde, NÖJA – Niederösterreichische Arbeitsgemeinschaft Offene Jugendarbeit, gLAB – Public Sector Partner | Germany

*This project was selected by the Creative Bureaucracy Festival jury as one of the standout submissions to the Creative Bureaucracy Festival’s 2025 Call for Participation.*

As the AI Lab of DRV Bund, the team has developed a co-creative approach to introducing AI across the entire organization. Together with stakeholders from all departments, the team is translating the official AI strategy into concrete actions and initiatives. A key element of this approach is a comprehensive AI acceptance analysis to assess employees’ level of readiness and familiarity with AI, as well as to better understand their needs and expectations.

As a next step, employees are invited to participate in co-creation processes where they develop ideas and create prototypes through design sprints. At the same time, since 2024, the team has been working with stakeholders to develop initiatives and formats that will help transform DRV Bund into an AI-skilled and AI-oriented organization.

The aim is to ensure that employees actively shape the AI transformation and that the introduction of AI is driven by collaboration, participation, and shared learning.

By Deutsche Rentenversicherung Bund; KI-Labor der Stabsstelle Digitalstrategie und digitale Transformation | Germany

 *This project was selected by the Creative Bureaucracy Festival jury as one of the standout submissions to the Creative Bureaucracy Festival’s 2025 Call for Participation.*

Enough sitting indoors! Getting outside, enjoying the sunshine, and meeting people where they are—that is the guiding principle of the Neighborhood Lab. A short virtual tour of the mobile tiny house offers insights into what it is all about. Sometimes it serves as Berlin’s most accessible citizens’ service center, sometimes as an application office for balcony solar systems, and sometimes as a space where residents and public administrators come together to exchange ideas. The team responds directly to local needs and adapts its services to the specific circumstances of each neighborhood. Everything depends on where the Neighborhood Lab makes its next stop.

The Neighborhood Lab is a converted shipping container that has been traveling across Berlin for the past two and a half years, bringing engagement, innovation, and participation wherever they are needed. Together with local communities, new approaches to participatory innovation have been tested, explored, and refined to engage a wide range of audiences. As a bridge between public administration and urban society, the Neighborhood Lab brings the vision of public-interest-oriented digitalization and urban innovation directly into local neighborhoods. To achieve this, the project uses innovative methods such as the AI-supported image generation tool “City Visions” and new service formats, including the mobile citizens’ service center.

The Neighborhood Lab is a project of CityLAB Berlin, an initiative of the Berlin Institute for Innovation, Technology and Research (Technologiestiftung Berlin). It was developed as part of the “Together Digital: Berlin” strategy and is funded by the Berlin Senate Chancellery.

By LCityLAB Berlin / Technologiestiftung Berlin | Germany

*This project was selected by the Creative Bureaucracy Festival jury as one of the standout submissions to the Creative Bureaucracy Festival’s 2025 Call for Participation.*

Public administrations often lack simple digital tools to answer urban planning questions quickly and effectively. The 3D Project Planner addresses this challenge by enabling users to visualize development projects within a digital 3D city model. Built on the open-source geoportal platform Masterportal, the web application allows users to create and explore planning concepts without expensive software licenses or extensive technical expertise. Its open interfaces and open-source architecture also encourage reuse and collaborative development across organizational boundaries. The 3D Project Planner demonstrates that digital solutions for public administration can be accessible, collaborative, and easy for everyone to understand.

Product managers Helen Winter and Mateusz Lendzinski present the planner's core features, offering insights into its intuitive user interface and drawing tools, which make it possible to create simulations and perform analyses in just a few minutes.

The 3D Project Planner was developed by the Hamburg Ministry for Urban Development and Housing (BSW) in cooperation with Dataport and Hamburg's State Office for Geoinformation and Surveying (LGV) using an agile development approach. It is also part of the federally funded Connected Urban Twins (CUT) initiative, led overall by the Senate Chancellery of the Free and Hanseatic City of Hamburg.

By Behörde für Stadtentwicklung und Wohnen der Freien und Hansestadt Hamburg, Dataport, Landesbetrieb für Geoinformation und Vermessung der Freien und Hansestadt Hamburg, Senatskanzlei der Freien und Hansestadt Hamburg | Germany

*This project was selected by the Creative Bureaucracy Festival jury as one of the standout submissions to the Creative Bureaucracy Festival’s 2025 Call for Participation.*

BunterBund was founded in 2022 as an initiative by two employees of the Austrian Federal Ministry for Climate Action, Environment, Energy, Mobility, Innovation and Technology. Its mission is to create a safe and supportive space for employees across the Austrian federal public service who want to connect and exchange ideas on LGBTQIA+ topics.

Since its inception, BunterBund has operated as an Employee Resource Group, organizing a wide range of activities and proposing initiatives to foster a more diverse and inclusive workplace. These include awareness workshops and networking events that encourage collaboration and exchange across ministries. Due to the strong cross-ministerial interest, BunterBund was officially registered as a non-profit association in February 2024.

Highlights of recent years include receiving the Meritus Special Award in 2023 and coordinating the Austrian federal public service's first-ever participation in the Vienna Pride Parade in 2024. Today, BunterBund's growing network includes around 150 people, with more than 85 full members representing 15 different public sector organizations.

The network hosts monthly meetups in an informal setting, creating opportunities for exchange, mutual support, and new ideas. Through its intersectional approach, BunterBund advances comprehensive equality initiatives and serves as a central point of contact for diversity issues across the Austrian federal public service.

By BunterBund – Verein zur Förderung von LGBTQIA+ Interessen im österreichischen Bundesdienst | Germany

*This project was selected by the Creative Bureaucracy Festival jury as one of the standout submissions to the Creative Bureaucracy Festival’s 2025 Call for Participation.*

The project “Interoperable Legal Concepts and Data Matching” addresses the challenge of “understanding each other” by enabling semantic interoperability in public administration—from legal concepts all the way to data fields. By ensuring that legal concepts with the same designation are used consistently across different areas of law and administrative services (for example, the term “income”), and by establishing standardized data models across administrative services, the project enables more efficient administrative processes and seamless digital data exchange between different public services.

Using AI-supported approaches and agile collaboration, the project is creating the foundation for a user-oriented public administration based on the Once-Only Principle. The aim is for citizens and businesses to provide their data to public authorities only once, with administrations then exchanging this data securely among themselves—with the consent of those concerned.

As part of the project, the team developed the tool “eLexa.” eLexa is based on a knowledge graph that maps connections between legal concepts and their definitions across different legal codes. It is designed to support the process of drafting legislation by enabling the simple reuse of established legal concepts. In the background, legal concepts are linked to public administration datasets.

The result: less bureaucracy, digitally compatible legislation, consistent data structures, and an improved user experience.

By Bundesministerium der Finanzen, Freie Hansestadt Bremen | Germany

*This project was selected by the Creative Bureaucracy Festival jury as one of the standout submissions to the Creative Bureaucracy Festival’s 2025 Call for Participation.*

The DOKE Specialist Unit is helping Berlin become more diverse, equitable, and future-ready. The team empowers Berlin’s public administration not only to promote diversity, but to actively embed it in everyday practice. The work goes beyond commitments and statements, taking an in-depth look at internal organizational processes, particularly in the areas of human resources and public services. Through tailored consulting, strategic support, and targeted training programs, the team helps implement ambitious diversity goals based on the Berlin State Diversity Programme and the State Anti-Discrimination Act (LADG).

The mission is to reduce institutional discrimination and establish diversity as a strength.

The project is implemented on behalf of the State Anti-Discrimination Office within the Berlin Senate Department for Labor, Social Services, Equality, Integration, Diversity and Anti-Discrimination (SenASGIVA). The target groups include district offices, Senate administrations, and subordinate authorities across the State of Berlin.

The services are as diverse as the challenges themselves: from anti-discrimination-focused sensitivity reviews of job advertisements to the development of diversity-oriented recruitment strategies along the entire employee experience journey. The team supports public authorities in improving complaint procedures, establishing sustainable diversity governance structures, and strategically embedding diversity into their organizational culture.

Since 2021, the project has demonstrated how diversity-oriented public administration can be put into practice through 21 collaborations with public authorities.

Together, the partners are shaping an administration that reaches everyone.

By BQN Zentrum für Diversitätskompetenz Landesstelle für Gleichbehandlung – gegen Diskriminierung | Germany

*This project was selected by the Creative Bureaucracy Festival jury as one of the standout submissions to the Creative Bureaucracy Festival’s 2025 Call for Participation.*

Many cities lack the capacity to transition to a circular economy because solutions are often fragmented, difficult to access, or unavailable in the local language. Even when municipal employees identify relevant case studies, the next steps often remain unclear: suitable indicators are missing, local businesses are difficult to engage, and systemic change involves significant risks.

CircularPSP is developing a platform powered by specialized AI that collects, filters, and makes case studies searchable based on relevant criteria. Cities can use the platform to define their circular economy goals, implement measures, and track progress. Municipal employees receive step-by-step guidance and access to tailored learning resources. They can connect directly with the organizations behind successful case studies and inform local SMEs about changing requirements.

The solution enables cities of all sizes to transition towards a circular economy with minimal effort and risk. It facilitates knowledge transfer, networking, and impact measurement, helping to overcome misconceptions and make the benefits of the circular economy more visible.

By Circular Berlin | Germany

*This project was selected by the Creative Bureaucracy Festival jury as one of the standout submissions to the Creative Bureaucracy Festival’s 2025 Call for Participation.*

The workplace of a public administration employee: surrounded by stamp pads and piles of paperwork, they dream of digitalization. At their desk—part breakfast buffet, part workshop bench—the future of the municipality is being shaped with a little office-clip creativity. This is exactly where Urban Stack comes in: a digital Smart City ecosystem designed for the holistic digital transformation of municipalities.

Coffee was served yesterday; today’s motto is “Serving Smart Solutions.” Under this guiding principle, Urban Stack connects municipalities, citizens, and public administrations—the buffet is open to everyone!

But enough talk about fax machines—what is it actually about? Urban Stack is a multi-tenant Software-as-a-Service solution featuring a flexible and shared architecture, without additional infrastructure costs for municipalities. The SaaS model provides a scalable solution that adapts easily to municipal needs while combining intuitive usability with transparent costs. In addition, all technologies are open source, ensuring sustainable use and long-term adaptability.

Now that the background is clear, let’s look at the practical building blocks of Urban Stack: three hubs with different functions.

The Urban Data Hub enables efficient data processing, storage, and secure real-time data provision. The Citizen Hub gives residents access to digital services and opportunities for active participation. The Gov Hub can be summed up in three words: dashboards, community, and city tools.

Find out more about these components in the teaser video!

By Stadt Gütersloh | Germany

*This project was selected by the Creative Bureaucracy Festival jury as one of the standout submissions to the Creative Bureaucracy Festival’s 2025 Call for Participation.*

Complex language, unclear processes, and limited awareness of available options make it difficult for many citizens to access justice. To address this challenge, the Federal Ministry of Justice and the Federal Digital Service are collaborating with 10 federal states and 18 local courts in the “Digital Legal Application Office” project. Their shared goal is to develop user-friendly digital justice services that are informative, intuitive, and easy to understand for everyone. At the same time, the project aims to reduce the workload of the justice system through digital solutions.

As a first use case, the project team has been working since spring 2023 with more than 90 partners from federal states and courts to develop a user-friendly digital solution for applying for legal aid. This cross-state collaboration ensures that the solutions address both the needs of citizens and the requirements of justice professionals. Through continuous usability testing and direct feedback from practitioners, the team is creating an online service that not only simplifies the application process but also enables justice staff to work more efficiently.

The showcase provides practical insights into the collaboration model and the joint development process behind the online legal aid application service.

By Bundesministerium der Justiz, DigitalService GmbH des Bundes, Amtsgericht Bochum | Germany

*This project was selected by the Creative Bureaucracy Festival jury as one of the standout submissions to the Creative Bureaucracy Festival’s 2025 Call for Participation.*

How can we create a sustainable everyday life in our cities? The City of Zurich is addressing this challenge through the project “Our Neighborhood – Living Sustainably.” A living lab is testing solutions directly in three residential areas, together with residents, public administration, and researchers.

Zurich is pursuing four environmental goals: climate neutrality, a healthy urban climate, interconnected urban nature, and intelligent resource use. But real change requires participation. That is why the Environmental and Health Protection Department of Zurich (UGZ) supports residents in embedding sustainable practices into their everyday lives.

Since 2023, new approaches have been tested in three Zurich neighborhoods. The focus is on waste and consumption. The aim is not just to develop ideas, but to create concrete and feasible solutions that work in everyday life.

With this project, Zurich joins a growing number of international cities exploring sustainable approaches in public administration—from new models of participation to improved coordination of collective action.

By Umwelt- und Gesundheitsschutz der Stadt Zürich (UGZ) | Germany

*This project was selected by the Creative Bureaucracy Festival jury as one of the standout submissions to the Creative Bureaucracy Festival’s 2025 Call for Participation.*