Creative Bureaucracy @ Bristol Ideas.

Bristol Ideas hosted a Creative Bureaucracy Day at Watershed yesterday. The concept of a Creative Bureaucracy - an intentional oxymoron - was established by visionary urbanist Charles Landry in 2003. Bureaucracies make an essential contribution to upholding civic values and protecting democracies. The Creative Bureaucracy Day and its’ cousin, the Creative Bureaucracy Festival in Berlin establish a platform for sharing tactics and missions used by governments and their partners to deliver better for their constituents.

There were enlightening contributions from a unique line up of speakers. What stuck in mind in particular was this:

Johanna Sieben ’s recognition that bureaucracies are tasked with providing stability in a context of constant and accelerating change. Idoia Postigo Fuentes wondered whether there is an expectation of bureaucracies to change whilst society is resisting change.

Sir Geoff Mulgan promoted the idea of ‘minimum necessary bureaucracy’ and the observation that ‘creativity is built on failure whereas bureaucracies are designed to avoid failure’.

Paul Smith explained that ‘bureaucracies do not work on structures, but on relationships and that we must invest in bettering internal relationships. We also discussed the idea of ‘retiring’ redundant bureaucratic processes. To maintain the ability to implement and avoid stagnation, Andrew Kelly promoted the idea of ‘an optimum amount of collaboration’.

Robyn Bennett illustrated the seven pillars of innovation pursued by creative bureaucracies. It was fascinating to hear about the role of the Chief Heat Officer established by municipalities to work horizontally across departments in mitigating the effects of climate change; the Ministry of Possibilities established by the UAE as a virtual organisation structure that enables the ad-hoc establishment of new, actual sub-departments that can tackle immediate community need; Helsingborg City’s ‘Failure of the Year Award’ which promotes learning and continued improvement; the Greater Manchester Legislative Theatre which brings policy makers and rough sleepers together to act out policy proposals and the Diplomats of Colour network established in the Federal Foreign office in Germany to promote diversity and bring people together.

Tom Burke highlighted the staggering value delivered by the voluntary sector in the UK which has been estimated at ￡324 billion in 2023 and is leveraged by nearly 150k charities operating nationwide. 1/3 of the population in the UK undertook volunteering in 2023! Tom asked ‘When did we switch from the economy being a servant to the public cause to society becoming a slave to the economy.’

Poku Pipim Osei FRSA suggested a new role for the public sector to leverage value through establishing networks and enabling community organisations.

We discussed the role of innovation and Idoia Postigo asked at what cost we are pursuing innovation and whether innovation was the aim or the means.

Nikki Linsell told us about PUBLIC PRACTICE and how the organisation was borne from a need that she identified in her own experience of wanting to work for the public sector and the amazing success that the organisation has had in bringing new thinking into local government.

In a discussion chaired by (Cecile) Leyla Boulton , Sophie Howe told us about the Well-being of Future Generations Act and how it’s objectives were defined through a nationwide engagement program with people of all walks of life in Wales. As Future Generations Commissioner she was able to hold a mirror up to Welsh Government proposals, policy and processes. This way, 48 out of 50 road building programs were cancelled as it became impossible to justify their detrimental impact on future generations. Funds were instead diverted to active travel projects and public transport.

Gabriella Gomez-Mont told us about the deficiency of trust between people and government in Mexico City and how her role as Chief Creative Officer allowed her to bridge this divide. Memorable quotes from her presentation include: ‘Democracy is a creative process.’, ‘How do you start rehearsing for a collaborative society?’ and ‘Your community is your superpower.’

We also heard from Melissa Mean at WeCanMake and Imandeep Kaur about the importance of the neighbourhood and the accumulative value that small scale regeneration can have.

I look forward to continuing the discussion at the Creative Bureaucracy Festival in Berlin on 13. June 24. Are you going?

?