The 8th Creative Bureaucracy Festival on 5 June 2025
THE 8TH CREATIVE BUREAUCRACY FESTIVAL ON
5 JUNE BRINGS TOGETHER LEADING VOICES AND COMMITTED CHANGEMAKERS IN THE PUBLIC SECTOR
- The full programme of the 8th Creative Bureaucracy Festival is now online, showcasing groundbreaking examples of public sector innovation in action.
- Philipp Amthor, Member of the Bundestag and Parliamentary State Secretary to the Federal Ministry for Digital and State Modernisation will speak on the Transformation Stage.
- The complete festival programme is available here: https://creativebureaucracy.org/programme
- The main stage programme will be streamed live and free of charge.
- Tickets are available for €34.90: https://creativebureaucracy.org/tickets/
Berlin, 27 May 2025 – The programme for the 8th Creative Bureaucracy Festival on 5 June 2025 is now online. It features pioneering real-world examples of how public sector innovation is already taking shape and shows that driving transformation in government above all requires one thing: committed individuals who implement and embody cultural change.
But how can we create the right framework conditions to support these creative bureaucrats? And how can new ways of thinking and working be sustainably anchored across departments and levels of administration?
“It is essential that we ask these multifaceted questions,” says Johanna Sieben, Festival Director and Deputy Managing Director of the Falling Walls Foundation. “The world is becoming increasingly complex. That’s why we must not shy away from complex answers. Especially when it comes to the question of what a modern state should look like.”
To do justice to this complexity, this year’s programme offers not only a broad thematic spectrum – ranging from climate policy and federal-level digital governance to local innovation projects – but also interactive, in-depth formats. The combination of international thought leaders, high-level representatives from government, and practitioners from across the public sector emphasises the central message: The creative state is no longer a future vision, but in many places, it is already a reality.
Diverse Perspectives for a Rich and Varied Programme
With over 180 speakers from more than 30 countries across four stages and five workshop spaces, the festival offers its 2,000 participants a diverse and engaging programme. Philipp Amthor, Member of the Bundestag and Parliamentary State Secretary to the Federal Minister for Digital and State Modernisation, will share insights on how innovation can take root within a federal ministry.
Representing the Initiative for a State Capable of Acting, former Federal Minister Thomas de Maizière will outline where the initiative sees the greatest need for action in building an agile and innovative public administration.
On the Impact Stage, Martina Klement, Chief Digital Officer and State Secretary at the Berlin Senate Chancellery, will speak about the future of Berlin’s administration and current developments in the capital.
Graça Fonseca, former Minister of Culture for Portugal and co-founder of the Futura Foundation, will share future-oriented perspectives using the example of participatory democracies in urban contexts. Omezzine Khélifa, former advisor to the Tunisian Ministry of Finance, will also offer insights into how civic participation and social cohesion can strengthen democracy, drawing on her experience working with the Tunisian government.
Simone Schwanitz, Secretary General of the Max Planck Society, will explore the bureaucratic frameworks that shape the scientific landscape. Ralph Brinkhaus, Member of the Bundestag, will take part in a discussion on best practices in administrative modernisation. Katarina Niewiedzial, Berlin Senate Commissioner for Participation, Integration and Migration, will join a panel on how skills development in public administration can help attract and support young talent. Fedor Rose, Head of the State Chancellery of Rhineland-Palatinate, will deliver a keynote on how reducing bureaucracy can help rebuild trust between citizens and the state. Also, a panel including Katja Wilken, President of the Federal Office of Administration, and Dörte Dinger, Head of the Office of the Federal President, will discuss how a modern administration can contribute to a resilient democracy.
Among the roughly 180 additional speakers are also Dirk Günnewig, State Secretary at the Ministry of Finance of North Rhine-Westphalia, and Thierry Lambert, Delegate for Public Transformation of the French Government.
Theresa Twachtmann, Managing Director of the main festival partner PD, sees the Creative Bureaucracy Festival as a key event for sharing insights by the public sector for the public sector: “The festival has established itself as a networking platform for bold and innovative thinkers and shapers of administrative transformation. Its diverse exchange formats offer our public clients and stakeholders at all federal levels an inspiring space to share best practices and encourage replication. In our sessions, we will focus on driving sustainable transformation in public administration, exploring digital methods in public construction projects, and using AI and data effectively. I’m excited about the ideas that will emerge during the festival and I look forward to many engaging conversations and discussions.”
The wide range of partnerships with leading organisations underscores the Creative Bureaucracy Festival’s commitment to addressing one of society’s most pressing challenges. In addition to its main partners – the Falling Walls Foundation and PD – Berater der öffentlichen Hand – the Festival is supported and enriched by numerous institutions, including:
the Institute for Federal Real Estate (BImA), the Federal Chancellery, the Federal Office of Administration, the Federal Ministry of Labour and Social Affairs, the Federal Ministry of Research, Technology and Space, the Federal Ministry for Education, Family Affairs, Senior Citizens, Women and Youth, the Federal Ministry of Defence, byte – the Bavarian Agency for Digital Affairs, the Digital Service of the Federal Government, the European Commission, the Deutsche Gesellschaft für Internationale Zusammenarbeit (GIZ) GmbH, GPM – the German Association for Project Management, the Goethe-Institut, the Berlin University of Applied Sciences for Engineering and Economics, the Hertie Foundation, the Konrad-Adenauer-Stiftung, the Max Planck Society, the Berlin Senate Chancellery, and the City of Stuttgart.
Press Contact:
Felix Mihalek, PR Manager Creative Bureaucracy Festival, +49 30 60 98 83 97 80, press@creativebureaucracy.org
ABOUT THE CREATIVE BUREAUCRACY FESTIVAL
The Creative Bureaucracy Festival shines a spotlight on creative solutions to a wide variety of community issues within administration, bringing them center-stage and fostering a dialogue among the individuals and minds behind them. According to its president Charles Landry, the festival stands for a change from a "No, because" culture to a "Yes, if" culture that inspires people to try new things. The festival also aims to strengthen the reputation of the administration and appeal to imaginative young talents. creativebureaucracy.org
ABOUT THE FALLING WALLS FOUNDATION
Since 2009, the non-profit Falling Walls Foundation has been bringing together the most renowned and influential thought leaders from around the world. Nobel Prize winners, start-ups, young scientific talents, research companies, culture, politics and the media discuss the question: "Which are the next walls to fall in science and society?". The Falling Walls Foundation's programmes build bridges be-tween science and society and convey enthusiasm for the work of scientists in all disciplines.falling-walls.com
ABOUT PD – ADVISOR TO THE PUBLIC SECTOR
As a partner to the public sector, PD combines economic and strategic expertise with in-depth knowledge of the special processes and structures of public sector clients. On this basis, PD offers consulting and management services on all aspects of modern administration with a team of around 1,100 employees. Clients are exclusively federal, state and local authorities as well as other public bodies and institutions, as PD is itself 100 per cent publicly owned as an in-house consultancy. pd-g.de
