Trans-European Dialogue 2027

LAGPA Announces New President for the Term 2025–2028

Diogo Pereira,

The Latin American Group for Public Administration (LAGPA) has announced the election of its new President, marking a key moment for the organization and its continued mission to advance public administration research and practice across Latin America.

Prof. Edgar Varela Barrios, Full Professor at the Faculty of Administrative Sciences, Universidad del Valle (Colombia), has been elected as LAGPA President. Prof. Varela brings a distinguished record of academic excellence and institutional leadership, combining his expertise in public governance, public policy, organizational theory, and administrative sciences with decades of experience in higher education leadership.

Prof. Varela served as Rector of Universidad del Valle from 2015 to 2023 and held senior positions including Administrative Vice-Rector, Director of Planning, and Dean of Graduate and Master’s Programs in Administration and Organization Sciences. Internationally, he has contributed as Regional Vice-President for Latin America and the Caribbean of IASIA and as a board member of LAGPA and the Colombian Center for Public Policy and Government (CCPP).

With a PhD in Administration (Management) from HEC Montréal, a Master’s in Andean History, and a Bachelor’s degree in Philosophy from Universidad del Valle, Prof. Varela is a leading scholar and administrator in Latin America. Fluent in English, French, and Portuguese, he has authored over 30 books, including the influential series La Hegemonía del Management, and has been a frequent keynote speaker at IIAS, LAGPA, AUIP, and CLAD conferences worldwide.

In his new role as President, Prof. Varela will guide LAGPA’s strategic initiatives, foster collaboration among member institutions, and continue strengthening the impact of public administration research and education throughout the region.

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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