The Regenerative Bureaucracy: Leadership in Times of Crisis

Talk 1: The Ukrainian Phoenix: Guiding a Post-War Rebirth

How do you rebuild a country after war? How do you recuperate the material and immaterial losses of conflict? And how can this be done amid deep uncertainty regarding the future?

While the Russian war against Ukraine is still raging, ReStart Ukraine is already thinking about what comes after – and what a Ukrainian recovery and revival could and should look like. In this session, they will discuss the steps they’re taking in this endeavor, from taking stock of what’s lost to envisioning scenarios of Ukraine after war and concentrating expertise to co-create concrete actions to get there.

Speaker: Alexander Shevchenko, ReStart Ukraine
Hosted by the BMW Foundation Herbert Quandt’s RISE Cities programme

Talk 2: Can You Grow Dynamic Capabilities in Public Institutions?

The COVID-19 pandemic has shown how important public sector capacities and capabilities are in terms of reacting to crises and re-configuring existing policies and implementation practices. Climate emergency and other similarly wicked challenges show that public sector needs to develop dynamic capabilities to shape societal responses and markets. Yet, public organisations are notoriously risk averse and focused on stability.

In this talk, Rainer Kattel – Deputy Director and Professor of Innovation and Public Governance at the UCL Institute for Innovation and Public Purpose (IIPP) – argues that public organisations must find a sweet spot in balancing capabilities for agility and for stability. He will share recent examples of public organisations that have succeeded in building such capabilities and draw some lessons of what the main challenges are in growing and maintaining dynamic capabilities in public agencies.

Speaker: Rainer Kattel, UCL IIPP

Talk 3: Empowering Female Climate Leaders

How do we foster the climate leaders of the future? In her role as Director of People, Performance and Technology at the City of Sydney, Susan Pettifer conducted a year-long programme and research study into the influence and self-efficacy of emerging female climate leaders across Greater Sydney in partnership with C40 Women4Climate and University of Sydney. In this talk, she will share both the steps involved in seeding this work and the powerful research findings which shed light on pathways for accelerating the effectiveness of emerging leaders committed to climate action. The work has implications for all leaders taking action on complex social and environmental issues.

Speaker: Susan Pettifer, City of Sydney

Talk 4: Unlocking the Potential of the Civic City

The cities we shape and build today can either lock us into destructive over-consumption, environmental degradation and social inequity or move us towards liveable, happy, sustainable and inclusive cities.

This presentation will highlight how you can unlock the latter – embracing a mindset of responsible leadership to implement bold and effective design and policy ideas, even in light of India’s daunting challenges. It also explores the potential of our cities to be labs for innovation and how grassroot innovators can imaginatively disrupt our cities to make them better.

Speaker: Prathima Manohar, The Urban Vision
Hosted by the BMW Foundation Herbert Quandt’s RISE Cities programme