Festival Topics

Millions of people are already being killed or displaced by natural disasters every year, and this situation is getting worse. Drastic action is needed to meet the IPCC target of halving emissions by 2030. How can legal and regulatory frameworks be rethought to enable us to get closer to climate targets? How can we adapt our systems to not just react to crises but anticipate and avoid them at an early stage? We need ideas that make sustainability a reality for everyone, and ideas for how to involve citizens in this process.

Project examples:

• The concept of “Innovation Diplomacy” works with the approach of interdisciplinary collaboration to save the climate. It uses new ideas and technologies to build relationships between governments for shared policy outcomes and better public services. 
• With the ongoing problem of plastic pollution and landfill congestion in Malaysia, Project Zero Waste Malaysia has inspired a new initiative: the MY Zero Waste Life manual. 
• We live what we advise: PD’s sustainability team explains why it is crucial for public benefit corporations to address their own sustainability impacts, how PD is working towards the SDGs in its advisory work, and the great impact the public sector can have in this area. 

Good communication is crucial to building relationships of trust and making change possible. We explore how successful communication with citizens and within institutions works. For example, how can we redesign unnecessarily complicated forms? What is involved in public office “branding”? Alongside good communication, we need better approaches for working together. How is collaboration between individuals, between departments and between organisations across sectors best designed?

Project examples:

• Organise projects in a people-oriented way: PMOs are an organisational lever for balancing tasks and personal development: Learning organisations instead of pure knowledge management! 
• The relationship and communication between politicians and administrations and the future of their intertwined relationship – this crucial topic is explored by the Apolitical Foundation as part of their effort to spread the word that we should reimagine politics. 

Quality, life-long learning and meaningful work are essential elements of thriving societies. What does “good education” mean? How can meaningful employment be guaranteed for all? From necessary reforms in nursing professions to the establishment of lifelong learning approaches: How can issues such as the shortage of skilled workers in administrations be met? What would it take to revive the public sector’s reputation as the most desirable place to work?

Project examples:

• The German Federal Office of Administration talks about the crisis as a driver for change  and how a state of emergency can drive and accelerate digital transformation. 
• Link and Learn is a “Bundeswehr” project that already provides thousands of members with a platform for networking, digitalised training and agile collaboration anytime, anywhere and makes work easier. 

Healthy democracies must enable and actively promote equality and equity. Creative Bureaucrats strive for a more just world, where unheard voices are surfaced and outdated power dynamics are dismantled. We are looking for ideas of how to make our societies more inclusive, addressing bias in relation to gender, race, ability or age in topics from pay-gaps to ethical algorithms.

Project examples:

• “Navigating Old Power Structures” is an account of the experiences of a young female politician in a country where the national parliament is one-third women and two out of 60 MPs are under 35. It explores both the need for profound change and the many ways in which centering young, female or unconventional views could change our public institutions and society for the better. 
• AlgorithmWatch talks about the impact of algorithmic systems. Rights advocates see them as a kind of magic wand that protects people from harm, but some practitioners see them as additional bureaucracy. Where is the middle ground and how can everyone benefit? 

Finance and resourcing are topics that are not directly associated with “creativity”. But it is precisely these areas that are crucial to rethink in order to enable innovation and progress. In this context, GovTechs and start-ups are playing an increasingly important role. How can procurement be thought of in a new and different way? And how can processes be “de-bureaucratised” to become enabling of innovation, new ideas and more efficient service delivery. Let’s rethink finance!

Project examples:

• New Economic Thinking: Demos Helsinki carries out deep reflections around necessary economic change and connects organisations and individuals who are working for this change in Europe. What are the key roles in government and public authorities for shepherding in new economic systems? 
• GovTech: State administrations from German states Hessen and Hamburg have embarked on “creative experiments” with GovTech. In this PD interview, those responsible for digitalisation in both authorities reflect on their experiences and whether GovTech is a passing hype or a fundamental driver of long-term administrative reform. 

The question of a good life, of our personal and collective health and wellbeing, is of particular current concern to all of us across the globe. Both crisis responses and deep systemic changes are needed! In this context, we continue to explore how places can be designed to increase the well-being of their citizens. For example, what could digital healthcare look like in the future and how could care work be looked at in a new way?

Project examples:

• Europe has never invested so significantly in health as with the EU4 Health funding programme to strengthen the resilience of EU health systems. At the Member State level, the programme is implemented through national contact points, which also coordinate the allocation of funding.
• The Arts and Policy City Certificate aims to improve the capacity of city governments to design and implement high-impact projects through arts and participation, with direct impact on the community in areas such as public health, transport or education. 

We cannot solve our problems with the same thinking that caused them. To create thriving democracies and a healthy planet, we need bureaucracies capable of nurturing and harnessing our collective imagination. It will take bold, out-of-the-box thinking that radically reimagines our broken systems to bring about the change we need. How do we grow this collective ability to explore, make sense of, and act on alternative possible futures?

Project examples:

• Imagine we’re in 2045 – what do our public administrations look like? What spaces do we move in and what do we value? Bureaucracy 2045 – A joint look into the future takes us on this imaginative journey. 
• The Art of Imagination: In Western societies a lack of social and political imagination is inhibiting us from adapting to big challenges like climate change. Sir Geoff Mulgan explores how we might address this “imaginary crisis”. 
• People Power Game: Draw, Imagine and Resolve the World’s Demographic Dilemmas: We have historically lived in a world where the average population was young, and this is about to reverse itself. Are we ready? 

Many public organisations around the world are undergoing drastic change. They are working hard on questions such as how to overcome silo thinking, collaborate in a transdisciplinary way, and reduce unnecessary red tape. How can resources be used in a new and different way? How can administrative structures be rethought? What does “new work” or “agile working” mean in the context of administrations? We would like to show enabling cultures and structures!

Project examples:

• Agile coaches from the “BMAS” report from their practice and on three agile toolkits. They explore which tools offer the most effective approach for public offices and how they can help cultural change within ministries? 
• Reinventing global bureaucratic structures – this contribution draws on experiences of working with governments from around the world and presents some possible approaches to institutional renewal. 
• Intercommunal digital: in order to drive digitalisation forward quickly, the “Hochsauerlandkreis” in Germany and its twelve cities and municipalities has opted for an innovative inter-communal approach: teams from three municipalities work together on different digitalisation projects and openly share the results. 

Active citizen participation and social engagement are crucial factors within healthy political systems and decision-making processes. Active listening, inclusion, and creating room for action and handing over power generates transparency and increases trust in administrations. What can these processes look like and how can civil society be involved in participation processes? How can the future be shaped together?

Project examples:

• The Tiny Town Hall creates a mobile space that brings city administrations to citizens and invites them to talk at eye level. It’s a test space for participation and public innovation. 
• The ReStart Ukraine project develops a guide for life after the war. Concrete measures are developed collectively, expertise is gathered and scenarios are discussed in order to reach a common goal. 

Public spaces, be they physical or digital infrastructures, are something we encounter every day, in every moment. They are – or should be – the basis of our common life. How do we ensure these spaces are designed inclusively and imaginatively to unlock a sustainable future? Can we reclaim cities for people? What does effective local transport look like? From pop-up bike lanes to 15-minute city models, we are looking for examples of how creative bureaucracy can enable effective #placemaking.

Project examples:

• Gender planning is a strategic approach to urban development that Vienna has been taking for 30 years. Our cities are shaped by a male planning perspective, which means that everyday contexts of many groups have been ignored. This must change. 
• Samverket is a project to design and test Sweden’s first innovation and co-working hubs. The aim is to create a national hub concept that can be implemented across the country. Interest in the pilot hubs from all parts of the country has been immense! 
• Collaborations and administrations: using the example of “Integrated Project Processing”, a new procurement variant for planning and construction services in Germany, PD experts show what opportunities different collaboration models offer for administrations of the future. 

Digital opportunities are increasingly offering ways to automate tasks and process complex information on an ongoing basis to support better decision-making. Yet the “digitalisation process” has long escaped public administrations and it’s vital they catch up. From data use in municipalities to open source and cloud systems and the question of trust in data use: How do we approach the use of AI, deal with data ethics, and design and manage digital public spaces?

Project examples:

• Digital opportunities for all: ‘Aspire to Innovation’ (a2i), a special programme of the ‘Digital Bangladesh’ agenda supported by UNDP, aims to do just that by improving quality, expanding access and decentralising public service delivery. 
• “PREVIEW” is a modern data tool used by the Foreign Office of Germany for early international crisis detection, greatly simplifying their approach to analysis and information management.