About us

We put a spotlight on creative bureaucrats and showcase bureaucracy at its best

The Creative Bureaucracy Festival puts excellent, creative solutions to community issues and the people behind them in the limelight. Everything from small adjustments to big visions for the future! The festival represents a shift from a “no because” culture to a “yes if” culture that embraces experimentation and new ideas. In doing so, the festival aims to refresh the reputation of public administrations and appeal to imaginative new talent. In 2025, the festival returns with the Digital Kick-Off Day in March and the live festival on 5 June, welcoming almost 2,000 creative bureaucrats in Berlin.

We use unconventional formats and creative elements to create spaces where bureaucrats…

…appreciate and connect with each other in trust,
…discuss relevant and urgent topics with key stakeholders,
…learn from and inspire one another,
…experience the magic and potential of the public sector.

The growing creative bureaucracy community brings the festival spirit into the world of administration and beyond – thereby achieving impact, effectiveness and accountability. Empowered by a strong administration, we uphold the democracy of the future.

Aftermovie 2024

Creative Bureaucracy Festival 2024 (English Subtitles)

DEFINITIONS OF "CREATIVE BUREAUCRACY”

Creativity is about unleashing the ability of the mind to think differently and conceive new ideas. It’s about ingenuity, imagination, responsiveness, adaptability and flexibility.

Innovation is about the implementation of creative ideas. It’s about turning creativity into action and doing things differently.

Creative bureaucracy is about bureaucrats using their imagination and resourcefulness to solve problems with flexibility and adaptability. Creative bureaucrats are responsive and empathetic towards citizens’ needs and wishes, while never neglecting the legalities and political mandates that are the foundations of modern bureaucracies. Creative bureaucracies are able to work collaboratively and bottom-up around joint missions to experiment in real life settings as a way to identify new and better ways to deliver and solve problems, building bridges between different actors across disciplines and sectors. Creative bureaucracies work openly, transparently and humbly – acknowledging the limits of their knowledge and living a culture of continuous learning.

We use the term “bureaucrat“ to refer to any individual working for a government entity, intergovernmental organisation or any other type of public body. They can be elected or appointed, working as policymakers or at an operational level. We consider “allies“ to be individuals and organisations across sectors who work alongside bureaucracies to help them become future-fit and to advance the common good.

Our current systems have been built to reinforce certain power dynamics, social norms and mindsets. Without addressing those imbalances, we have no hope of securing healthy democracies and a thriving planetary future.

Diversity, Equity and Inclusion (DEI) is a term used to describe commitments – manifest through policies, programs, campaigns and other actions – to address these power imbalances.

For guidance on best practices, we recommend this DEI Resource Bank by Finnish non-profit Inklusiiv.

I love the Creative Bureaucracy Festival. It's so engaging, it's so vibrant. I think bureaucracies enable long term thinking, long term action. Political cycles change, but bureaucracy and bureaucrats are the ones who can keep a vision going for the long term. So, the thing that keeps coming up is this idea of the mission-oriented bureaucracy, the the goal oriented bureaucracy. I think that's a key thing that grounds the Creative Bureaucracy Festival, how the stories of the creative bureaucrats on stage can inspire others.

Yogesh Hirdaramani, Head of Content Production, GovInsider

crowd of people sitting infront of the transformation stage

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Celebrating outstanding examples of modern bureaucracies from around the world

The programme attracts participation from numerous personalities belonging to over 100 partner institutions. These individuals represent all administrative levels, responsibilities, and countries, including educators, ministers, and locations from Argentina to Berlin-Zehlendorf. The diverse range of contributions offer concrete examples from practical experiences and promote exchange among practitioners of all kinds. Topics range from better regulation and organisational culture to new working methods, HR policy, forms of citizen participation, GovTech and artificial intelligence.

The festival is supported by two main festival partners, the Falling Walls Foundation gGmbH and PD – Advisors to the Public Sector GmbH, as well as numerous further partners and supporters from across administration, science and the media.