NOW OPEN: Global Call for Participation
Help shape the Creative Bureaucracy Festival 2027. Submit your ideas by 11 December.
Across the world, people working in and with public administration are finding creative ways to make government work better. They are rethinking everyday processes, building new forms of collaboration and turning ambitious ideas into practical change.
We want to hear their stories — and yours.
The Creative Bureaucracy Festival returns to Berlin on 2–3 June 2027, with a new home at Alte Münze. Through our Global Call for Participation, we are looking for contributions to the festival programme on 3 June that offer fresh perspectives and useful lessons for public sector changemakers around the world.
From everyday improvements to bold new directions
Creative bureaucracy takes many forms. It might be a simpler way to access a public service, a team challenging established working practices, or a collaboration that brings communities and public institutions closer together. It can also begin with a research question, an artistic intervention or an idea that asks us to imagine public administration differently.
What connects these contributions is a willingness to question assumptions and explore what becomes possible with a “yes, if” mindset.
For our anniversary edition, we invite you to submit your work in one of four categories:
- Project Showcase: Share a running project or one completed within the past five years, with public servants actively involved. Tell us what you changed, how you approached it and what others can learn from your experience.
- Research & Discovery: Bring research into the conversation about better public administration. We welcome completed research and work in progress with substantive preliminary findings, presented in clear, accessible language.
- Arts & Bureaucracy: Show how art can help us see public institutions, public spaces and public services differently. Share artistic work that invites people to question, engage with or reimagine bureaucracy.
- Moonshot Ideas: Put forward an ambitious vision for the future of public administration. What could fundamentally change, why does it matter and what steps could bring your idea closer to reality?
Share your experience. Help others take the next step.
The festival creates space for people to exchange practical knowledge, ask difficult questions and find collaborators across institutions, sectors and borders.
By sharing your contribution, you can help others see new possibilities in their own work. We are interested in the thinking and learning behind your approach: the problem you encountered, the choices you made and the insights that could be useful elsewhere.
Whether your work addresses a local challenge or explores change across entire institutions, we want to hear what makes it relevant and how it could inspire others.
How to take part
You can submit up to two proposals in total across all categories, in English or German. Explore the category descriptions and eligibility requirements on our Call for Participation page, then complete the online submission form.
The deadline for submissions is 11 December 2026 at 23:59 CET.
Help us bring the next generation of ideas, experiences and creative approaches to the stage — and shape the next chapter of creative bureaucracy together.
