7th Creative Bureaucracy Festival in Berlin with Record Attendance
More than 1,850 guests on site and more than 2,500 viewers online. In 83 sessions, more than 200 speakers, project participants and leading minds from a total of 50 countries shared their expertise on administrative innovations at the Creative Bureaucracy Festival in Berlin. The winners of the Creative Bureaucracy Festival Awards are Matthias Ecke, Sophie Howe, Christiana Bukalo. The sessions of the Impact Stage programme are available on YouTube in German and English. The next Creative Bureaucracy Festival is on 5 June 2025.
Innovations in the public sector are drivers for a strong democracy. Cooperation, creativity and capacities for cross-sectoral agile learning are essential for sustainable administrative innovations and successful social transformations. The 7th Creative Bureaucracy Festival ended with this conclusion and a plea for more intersectoral learning, trust, courage and confidence between politics and society. The festival brought together more than 1,850 creative bureaucrats in Berlin and more than 2,500 online participants from administration, society and politics. As a dialogue platform for innovation in the public sector, it gives all participants the opportunity to exchange best practices, insights, trends and new methods in administration - and celebrates talent from all over the world. On four stages and in four interactive forums, more than 200 speakers from almost 50 nations presented the most innovative projects for modern administrations in a total of 83 sessions in English and German. The international guests included: Namatai Kwekweza (Zimbabwe), winner of the Kofi Annan NextGen Democracy Prize and democracy activist; Sophie Howe (UK), former Future Generations Commissioner for Women; Tamara Srzentić (Montenegro), former Minister of Public Administration, Digital Society and Media.
Top speakers included Marco Buschmann, Federal Minister of Justice; Markus Richter, State Secretary at the Federal Ministry of the Interior and for Home Affairs and Chief Information Officer of the Federal Government; Steffen Saebisch, State Secretary at the Federal Ministry of Finance; Sarah Ryglewski, Minister of State at the Federal Chancellery; Martina Klement, State Secretary for Digitalisation and Administrative Modernisation and Chief Digital Officer of the State of Berlin; Dirk Günnewig, State Secretary in the Ministry of Finance of the State of North Rhine-Westphalia.
In his keynote speech, Federal Minister of Justice Marco Buschmann emphasised that, in addition to creativity as a symbiotic partner for bureaucracy, more mutual trust is also needed: "We have to ask ourselves why more and more citizens are withdrawing their trust in the state, politics and institutions to a certain extent. I believe that part of the answer is the consequences: when the state and politicians send out a message to citizens with more and more micromanagement of daily life: We don't trust you! - then mistrust is answered with mistrust. That's why reducing bureaucracy and giving citizens more trust again is the right way forward, because then the trust of the state and politicians in citizens will also be answered with the trust of citizens in the state and politicians."
Markus Richter, State Secretary at the Federal Ministry of the Interior and Home Affairs and Federal CIO, explained what Germany could learn from its European neighbours when it comes to the digitalisation of administration: "Our challenge is to put digitalisation into practice. In order for us to be able to act better and faster in Germany, we need to work together more closely with the help of platforms and artificial intelligence. In some cases, this requires a streamlining of processes in authorisation procedures. In Germany, we need more courage and more confidence as well as a focus on the question: What is technically possible, and can we solve it with the knowledge we have? In addition to the legal framework in the European Union, we need an implementation framework in the form of a sustainable structure in cooperation with the European Commission, for example at Chief Information Officer level."
Martina Klement, State Secretary for Digitalisation and Administrative Modernisation and CDO of the State of Berlin, said: "We are working to ensure that citizens perceive us even more strongly for our good service in the future. And one of the most important means of achieving this goal is the digitalisation of administrative services. Ultimately, this is where the greatest potential for change lies: Our goal is for Berliners to no longer need an appointment at the citizens' office. This would not only enable citizens to have convenient, modern contact with the authorities. It would also fundamentally relieve the burden on public offices and free up resources."
Festival Director Johanna Sieben summarised: "The many creative impulses and solutions presented at the festival are groundbreaking examples that show that administrations can produce co-creative approaches to the challenges of our time and are capable of successfully implementing them. These are blueprints for many competent and creative people in the public sector worldwide. With more participation and empowerment of all actors from administration, politics and civil society, we can shape change together and strengthen our democracy together."
Stéphane Beemelmans, Managing Director of the main festival partner PD, said: "The festival has moved to a new location this year, which very successfully reflects the character of the event! The variety of ideas and approaches for a new administration, the many creative, interesting and above all motivated visitors were once again incredibly impressive at the fifth PD festival co-operation. In this environment, it was a special honour for me to be able to give one of the laudatory speeches. I was delighted to have met Christiana Bukalo from Statefree for the occasion and to have presented her with an award."
The Creative Bureaucracy Festival Award recognises exceptional individuals who are making a significant impact in the public sector and improving lives in different parts of the world. This year's award honours the following outstanding individuals:
Matthias Ecke - for his ongoing commitment to democracy and an open society. Even after being physically assaulted during the election campaign, Ecke remains unconditionally committed to a united Europe and social cohesion.
Sophie Howe - for her pioneering work to protect future generations. Sophie Howe served as the world's first Future Generations Commissioner in Wales. Her implementation of the Well-being of Future Generations Act has inspired global government reform.
Christiana Bukalo - for her commitment to overcoming the challenges of stateless people. Christiana Bukalo founded Statefree, a platform to promote community and advocacy for stateless people worldwide. Her work brings visibility and support to change policies and improve lives.
The festival's project partners include the Bertelsmann Stiftung, the Centre for Public Impact, the Federal Ministry of Labour and Social Affairs, the Federal Ministry of Finance, the BMW Foundation Herbert Quandt, the Project Management Institute (PMI), the Federal Office of Administration, the Federal Foreign Office, GPM - Deutsche Gesellschaft für Projektmanagement e.V. and the Federal Ministry of Defence.
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ABOUT THE CREATIVE BUREAUCRACY FESTIVAL
The Creative Bureaucracy Festival shines a spotlight on creative solutions to a wide variety of community issues within administration, bringing them center-stage and fostering a dialogue among the individuals and minds behind them. According to its president Charles Landry, the festival stands for a change from a "No, because" culture to a "Yes, if" culture that inspires people to try new things. The festival also aims to strengthen the reputation of the administration and appeal to imaginative young talents. creativebureaucracy.org
ABOUT FALLING WALLS FOUNDATION
Since 2009, the non-profit Falling Walls Foundation has been bringing together the most renowned and influential thought leaders from around the world. Nobel Prize winners, start-ups, young scientific talents, research companies, culture, politics, and the media discuss the question: "Which are the next walls to fall in science and society?" The Falling Walls Foundation's programmes build bridges between science and society and convey enthusiasm for the work of scientists in all disciplines. falling-walls.com
ABOUT PD - BERATER DER ÖFFENTLICHEN HAND
As a partner to the public sector, PD combines economic and strategic expertise with in-depth knowledge of the special processes and structures of public sector clients. On this basis, PD offers consulting and management services on all aspects of modern administration with a team of around 1,100 employees. Clients are exclusively federal, state, and local authorities as well as other public bodies and institutions, as PD is itself 100 per cent publicly owned as an in-house consultancy. pd-g.de
Weitere Informationen:
https://www.youtube.com/playlist?list=PLMCId5gxYHRBUuFskZhHGjJcdmhGNC0_w The sessions of the Impact Stage programme are available on YouTube in German
https://www.youtube.com/playlist?list=PLMCId5gxYHRD0VtXArfftuAm-EqnyJB3j in English
https://www.dropbox.com/scl/fo/0b04yvp5eqmxnlor5ixe4/ALtaseISVwWyj21rF4JnFeI?rlkey=p2jrd2qu91or2pps8tvi9x7ai&st=r300cwej&dl=0 Press photos are available here
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