ReSPA Panel at the 30th NISPAcee Annual Conference: Turning Crisis into an Opportunity for the Western Balkans Administrations by Accelerating Changes in Society and Economy.
Public servants from ReSPA members attended the 30th Annual Conference of the Network of Institutes and Schools of Public Administration in Central and Eastern Europe (NISPAcee), “Crises, Vulnerability and Resilience in Public Administration”.
The Conference brought together academics, researchers and practitioners from Central and Eastern Europe who exchanged their perspectives and different points of view related to educating and training current and future policy and decision-makers. Keynote speakers highlighted that good governance and trust remain fundamental cornerstones of thriving democracies and remain crucial for building resilient institutions. Various academics also stressed the importance of transforming policy-making, governance, and decision-making into agile processes that respond to the quickly evolving realities of crises and turbulent events.
ReSPA attracted the interest of a broad and diverse audience of academics, researchers and practitioners from Central and Eastern Europe with its dedicated panel during the Conference, moderated by ReSPA Programme Managers Gentian Xhaxhiu and Dragan Đurić.
ReSPA Panelists Ina Rexhepaj (Prime Minister’s Office of Albania), Jelena Popović (Assistant Minister of Finance of the Republic of Srpska, BiH), Vjekoslav Čember (Director at the Office of the Government of the Federation of BiH for European Integration), Nina Blažić (Head of Department for the Implementation of the Principles of Good Public Administration, Ministry of Public Administration of Montenegro), Laura Ajdini (Advisor of the Minister of Information Society and Administration of North Macedonia) and Ninoslav Kekić (Assistant Director at the Public Policy Secretariat of Serbia), along with ReSPA Director, deliberated on the opportunities that bring emerging crises as game-changers for public administrations in turbulent times like those we live in.
Stimulating topics and reflections provoked lively discussions on how WBs administrations can use the opportunities that the crisis provides for guiding and accelerating changes in society and the economy. The impact of the crisis, the agility, the resilience of public systems and public leadership in the time of crisis was the focus of the panel, while panellists debated the necessity of a flexible and agile approach for the public administration institutions to adapt and respond effectively to socio-economic turbulence and scale their problem-solving efforts up and down.
ReSPA Director Maja Handjiska-Trendafilova highlighted that “in times of crisis, leaders would have to consult real-time data, seek expert advice, accept imperfect solutions, build alliances, learn from experience and adapt to new circumstances. To confront a crisis, public leaders must lead a horizontal collaboration between professional groups, organizations, and sectors, allowing the problem or task to set the team rather than asking which part of the institution should deal with it.” She also analyzed the impact of the crisis, the agility and the resilience of public systems and provided an overview of ReSPA’s instruments.
ReSPA Programme Manager Gentian Xhaxhiu summarised the key takeaways of the ReSPA panel, highlighting the importance of safeguarding the two core elements of proper policy making (impact assessment and stakeholders’ consultation), despite the trying times, the crisis and the urgent need for regulating. He also emphasized that networks, joint actions and cooperation among public systems in the Western Balkans create the pre-conditions for a quicker recovery and more efficient response to turbulent times.
On the last day of the Conference, the ReSPA Director was also invited as a speaker in the concluding Roundtable focused on the future of public administration in the NISPAcee region. She highlighted that administrations need to liaise more with each other, network, learn from each other, innovate, be inclusive, be open, and exchange more among practitioners and academics.
Next year the NISPAcee Annual Conference will take place in a ReSPA Member, Serbia, focusing on “the future of public administration, enabled through emerging technologies”.
