Call for Participation

Creative Bureaucrats don’t think in silos or subject fields, nor are they limited to working within sectors. They build bridges wherever needed to mobilise different actors behind common missions. Making this work means cutting the jargon: no ‘insider talk’ – rather simple, empathetic straight-talking and an eye for good design that’s accessible for all.

We’ve all experienced it: Too much bureaucracy kills creativity and innovation. But structures and processes aren’t stifling by default. Often they’re just not designed right. At Creative Bureaucracy we explore how leading public administrations are designing enabling cultures and governance structures.​

Civic participation is at the heart of democracy. Yet so often citizens aren’t involved at all in their political system or policymaking processes. Creative Bureaucrats and their allies listen to individuals and their communities and find ways to actively involve them in the decisions that will affect their futures, providing agency and building trust along the way.

Public infrastructures and spaces are the foundation of our collective lives.Both in the physical realm and also, crucially, the ever-growing digital sphere. Designing them right is crucial for our health and well-being, as well as to addressing challenges of power balances, sustainability and trust. What set of practices, structures and resources would provide the best conditions for everyone to thrive? Creative Bureaucrats are onto it.

“Digitalising a broken process gets you a digitised, broken process.” – New America. As governments increasingly automate their work and the digital possibilities around us proliferate, it’s Creative Bureaucrats and their allies who are ensuring we get the ‘digitalisation’ process right. From AI and data ethics through service design standards and digital public space stewardship, they’re ensuring technological growth doesn’t just have a rate but a values-led direction.

Many might consider the world around us to be a neutral canvas. But every design choice, conscious or otherwise, embeds certain perspectives and bias – in our physical and digital infrastructures, products and services, and far beyond. Creative Bureaucrats are striving towards a more equitable world by questioning such assumptions, surfacing unheard voices, and inviting systemic redesigns through new lenses.

What kind of bureaucratic infrastructure do we need for the 21st century? How can we create an empowering set of practices, resources and structures which together provide the best possible conditions for the imagination at all scales of society? Finance and resourcing don’t sound like especially ‘creative’ topics, but they are often the key to either halting or enabling progress. Creative Bureaucrats are on it – challenging existing views on ‘value’ and redesigning systems as a foundation for unlocking alternative futures.

The newly released IPCC report makes the state of the climate crisis unambiguously clear. Tackling this systemic threat to our planet and human rights requires a complete rewiring – not just of individual behaviour but of our underlying economic models, policy commitments, legal and regulatory frameworks, and political leadership. Creative Bureaucrats are leading the way.

Quality education and meaningful employment are two of the most powerful tools for lifting socially excluded individuals into society and for building bonds between citizens. In our new world of digital technologies, climate crises, and different social challenges to the past – What jobs and skills do we need? And what kind of education should we provide beyond the labour market?Creative Bureaucrats are asking such questions.

What kind of lives are we really aspiring to? Creative Bureaucrats think twice when designing success metrics. They look beyond easy tested-and-tried approaches and seek out the root causes of social challenges,defining problems and implementing solutions with holistic understandings of health and wellbeing that span the physical to the psychological, social and spiritual.