Trans-European Dialogue 2027

EGPA Workshop Explored Sustainability and Digital Transformation in Public Sector Financial Management

Diogo Pereira,

The EGPA Permanent Study Group XII on Public Sector Financial Management hosted its Spring Workshop on May 9-10, 2024, at the University of Basilicata in Matera, Italy. The workshop, themed "The Role of Sustainability and Digital Transformation as Propellers of Public Value Creation," attracted over 70 participants from 10 countries, including Brazil and Australia, reflecting its global significance.

Distinguished speakers and academics led two insightful roundtable discussions. The first roundtable focused on "Ideas and Projects on Digitalization in the Public Sector," serving as a catalyst for engaging discussions on this crucial theme. The second roundtable, "Public Sector in Sustainability Transformation: Selected Perspectives and Implementation Challenges," featured prominent practitioners from Italian and European public administration, offering invaluable insights into sustainability initiatives.

The workshop featured 10 parallel sessions, during which 30 papers were presented, covering a wide range of themes and methodological approaches. Notably, two parallel sessions were dedicated to the special issue of the International Journal of Public Administration associated with the workshop, showcasing cutting-edge research in the field.

The workshop's success underscores the growing importance of sustainability and digital transformation in shaping the future of public sector financial management. 

Public administration and management research has long drawn most of its ideas from Western, industrialised democracies. Yet Asia and the Global South have become major sites of administrative change, with large-scale reforms, fast-moving technology and some of the most inventive experiments in governance. Research from these regions has grown accordingly, but it is still often used to illustrate or apply theories made elsewhere, rather than to produce new ones.

This special issue of Public Management Review aims to change that. It invites authors to treat practice in Asia and the Global South as a starting point for theory: to test, question or extend established approaches, and to propose new concepts and explanations. It does not look for a single theory of these regions, which are far too diverse for that, but for context-sensitive contributions that also say something useful for policy and practice.

ASPA and EGPA call for papers | New Orleans, April 12-13, 2027 | Deadline: November 30, 2026

As democratic institutions face mounting pressure worldwide, public administrators are increasingly asked to spell out the role of their field in protecting and improving democratic systems. The American Society for Public Administration (ASPA) and the European Group for Public Administration (EGPA) are responding with the 2027 Transatlantic Dialogue (TAD), held alongside ASPA’s Annual Conference.

The theme is The Role of Public Policy and Administration in Shaping Democracy and Promoting the Resilience of Democratic Norms and Institutions.

From 12 to 16 October 2026, the International Association of Schools and Institutes of Administration (IASIA) held its Annual Conference in Athens, hosted by EKDDA, the National Centre for Public Administration and Local Government. Under the theme “Rethinking Governance for a Changing World”, the conference gathered 400 delegates from 57 countries and marked the 65th anniversary of the association. Athens was a conference grounded by learning and history but also new projects and connexions.

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