Trans-European Dialogue 2027

IASIA Co-Organizes Regional Symposium on Mainstreaming SDGs in African Schools of Public Administration

Diogo Pereira,

We are pleased to announce the Regional Symposium on Mainstreaming the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) in the Curricula of Schools of Public Administration in Africa. The event will be held online via Zoom on 2-3 May 2023, from 9:00-11:30 New York time (EDT)/ 16:00-18.30 Nairobi time.

Co-organized by the Division for Public Institutions and Digital Government (DPIDG) of the United Nations Department of Economic and Social Affairs (UN DESA), the African Management Development Institutes’ Network (AMDIN), the International Association of Schools and Institutes of Administration (IASIA), the Kenya School of Government (KSG), and the United Cities and Local Governments of Africa (UCLG-Africa)/African Local Government Academy (ALGA), the symposium will bring together experts from schools of public administration and institutes of training in Africa to discuss the importance of mainstreaming the SDGs into their curricula.

The first day of the symposium will witness the launch of the Curriculum on Governance for Implementing the SDGs, developed by UN DESA/DPIDG in 2021, which aims to equip public servants with the knowledge and capacities to effectively implement the SDGs. Progress made in mainstreaming the SDGs in national and subnational courses of training institutes and schools of public administration in Africa will also be discussed.

On the second day of the symposium, country experiences from the African region on mainstreaming the SDGs in the curricula of schools of public administration will be presented. Additionally, the topic of enhancing mainstreaming of the SDGs in the teachings of schools of public administration in Africa and modalities of collaboration will be explored.

We anticipate that the symposium will provide a platform to explore the challenges and successes in addressing the SDGs within the curricula of these institutions and help to identify innovative practices and lessons learned. The event will create a platform for discussing ways to strengthen the capacity of African public administration and training institutes to effectively teach the SDGs.

We cordially invite all interested individuals and institutions to join us in this significant event. Register for the symposium at https://bit.ly/AfricaSymposiumRegistration.

For more information, please check out the Concept Note. 

Resources

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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