Decolonising Public Administration: Rethinking Public Governance and Policy
Join UCL IIPP for a panel discussion, taking place on Wednesday 18th June at 18:00 - 19:45 BST.
Decolonising Public Administration: Rethinking Public Governance and Policy
18 Jun 2025, 18:00 – 19:45
Part of the 2025 IIPP Forum: Rethinking the State, this panel marks the culminating event of the Decolonising Public Administration series—an initiative by the UCL Institute for Innovation and Public Purpose (IIPP) and UCL Department of Science, Technology, Engineering and Public Policy (STEaPP). This series explores decolonial perspectives and decolonising praxis efforts in public administration, governance, scholarship and policy. Supported by a grant from the UCL Grand Challenges Special Initiative: 2024/25 Decolonising Research Methodologies and Practices, and with generous backing from UCL IIPP, the series has featured two hands-on Policy Hackathon Workshops. Click here to find out more about our hackathon workshops.
Designed as collaborative, interdisciplinary, and creative hands-on engagements focused on equitable and just approaches to policy and systems design, the workshops brought together students, public officials, researchers, artists, activists, designers, residents, and others to collectively reimagine public institutions, governance, policy, and systems design through the lens of decolonial praxis, dialogue, and participatory action research. This final panel discussion brings together a vibrant lineup of panel speakers from those workshops, reflecting on their experiences and own work, exploring what decolonial perspectives offer to public administration and what decolonising praxis looks like in practice, concerning how it is (1) understood and taught, (2) practised and researched, and (3) created and experienced—both within and beyond the classroom.
The conversation will spotlight key insights and reflections that emerged from the workshops, as well as ongoing questions around what it truly means to rethink public institutions and value through decolonial perspectives and decolonising praxis, especially for decolonising futures.
Convenors
- Professor Rainer Kattel, Co-Deputy Director and Professor of Innovation and Public Governance, UCL IIPP
- Professor Julius Mugwagwa, Professor of Health Innovation and Public Policy, UCL STEaPP
- Nai Lee Kalema (and host), PhD candidate and Research Fellow, UCL IIPP; and ‘24-’25 Technology and Human Rights Fellow at the Carr-Ryan Center for Human Rights and Policy, Harvard Kennedy School
Panel
- Carolina Alves, Associate Professor of Economics, UCL IIPP
- Dr Leo Anthony Celi, MD, MSc, MPH, Senior Research Scientist and PI for Critical Data MIT, Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT); Associate Professor of Medicine, Harvard Medical School; and practising ICU physician, Beth Israel Deaconess Medical Center (BIDMC) in Boston
- Rowan Conway, Visiting Professor of Strategic Design, UCL IIPP; Deputy Director of the Just Transition Finance Lab, London School of Economics; and Founder of Transformation by Design
- Rev. Dr Prof. Keith Magee, Senior Fellow and Visiting Professor of Practice in Cultural Justice at UCL Institute for Innovation and Public Purpose (IIPP), Fellow at the UCL Centre on US Politics (CUSP), and Chair and Professor of Practice in Social Justice at Newcastle University Law School.
Special guest speakers
- Rohit Chopra, Former Director of the U.S. Consumer Financial Protection Bureau (CFPB) (2021-2025), and former Commissioner for the U.S. Federal Trade Commission (2018-2021)
- Sara Shafiei, Vice Dean of Equality, Diversity, and Inclusion, and Associate Professor, Bartlett School of Architecture, The Bartlett Faculty of the Built Environment, UCL
Key information
- When: Wednesday 18th June at 18:00 - 19:45 BST.
- Where: UCL Institute for Innovation and Public Purpose, 11 Montague Street, London, WC1B 5BP
IIPP's Forum 2025 - Rethinking the State
The Rethinking the State Forum is UCL IIPP’s flagship annual event, convening global thinkers, policymakers, students, and practitioners to examine how states can build the capacity to drive inclusive, green, and digital transformations. Taking place from 18–20 June 2025, the Forum offers a space for critical reflection and exchange on the evolving role of the state in tackling today’s complex challenges. Through public panels, interactive workshops, and cross-sector dialogues, the event explores themes such as decolonising public administration, rebuilding public institutions, and reconfiguring governance for the common good.
Associate Professor in Economics
UCL Institute for Innovation and Public Purpose (IIPP)Dr Carolina Alves is an economist by training whose influences are rooted in intellectual traditions such as Classical Political Economy, Latin American Structuralism and Dependency Theory, Marxian and Kaleckian macroeconomics, and the new Cambridge Tradition, particularly the contributions of Joan Robinson and Tony Lawson. These foundations firmly place her within the field of heterodox economics.
Leo Anthony Celi has practiced medicine in three continents, giving him broad perspectives in healthcare delivery. As clinical research director and principal research scientist at the MIT Laboratory of Computational Physiology (LCP), he brings together clinicians and data scientists to support research using data routinely collected in the intensive care unit (ICU). His group built and maintains the Medical Information Mart for Intensive Care (MIMIC) database.
Rohit Chopra was nominated by President Biden in 2021 to serve as the 3rd Director of the U.S. Consumer Financial Protection Bureau (CFPB). In 2017, he was nominated by President Trump to serve as a Commissioner on the Federal Trade Commission. Over the years, he has led a series of efforts to hold Big Tech and Wall Street conglomerates more accountable. He holds a BA from Harvard and an MBA from the Wharton School at the University of Pennsylvania.
Policy Fellow and Visiting Professor of Strategic Design, leading the Transformation by Design module
UCL Institute for Innovation and Public Purpose (IIPP)Rowan is a Policy Fellow and Visiting Professor of Strategic Design, leading the Transformation by Design module of the MPA in Innovation, Public Policy and Public Value at UCL’s Institute for Innovation and Public Purpose (IIPP). Between 2019-2022 she worked with Professor Mariana Mazzucato to lead the Mission Oriented Innovation Network (MOIN) at IIPP, convening global policy-making institutions.
PhD candidate in Innovation and Public Policy
UCL Institute for Innovation and Public Purpose (UCL IIPP)Nai Lee Kalema, PhD candidate at the UCL IIPP; and ‘24-‘25 Technology and Human Rights Fellow for the Carr-Ryan Center on Human Rights and Policy, Harvard Kennedy School.
Nai's doctoral research looks at the global political economy of digital transformation, specifically examining how global digital and AI governance influences public-sector digital transformation and digital governments in the Global South. Specifically, Nai's empirical cases look at digital public infrastructure and digital-e
Deputy Director and Professor of Innovation and Public Governance
UCL Institute for Innovation and Public Purpose (IIPP)Rainer Kattel is Deputy Director and Professor of Innovation and Public Governance at the UCL Institute for Innovation and Public Purpose (IIPP). He has studied at the University of Tartu, Estonia, and the University of Marburg, Germany, in philosophy, political philosophy, classics and public administration.He led Ragnar Nurkse School of Innovation and Governance for 10 years, building it into one of the leading innovation and governance schools in the region.
The Reverend Professor Keith Magee, Th.D., FRHistS, FRSA is noted as a public intellectual, theologian, and social justice scholar. He is a Senior Fellow and Visiting Professor of Practice in Cultural Justice at UCL Institute for Innovation and Public Purpose (IIPP), where he leads Black Britain and Beyond, a think tank and social policy platform. He is a Fellow at the UCL Centre on US Politics (CUSP), and Chair and Professor of Practice in Social Justice at Newcastle University Law School.
Born and raised in Zimbabwe and educated in Zimbabwe and the UK, Julius Mugwagwa is currently Professor of Health Innovation and Public Policy at UCL STEaPP. He also currently serves as UCL’s Global Strategic Academic Advisor for Africa, Thematic Director, Global Health at UCL’s Global Governance Institute and is former Head of STEaPP’s Master’s in Public Administration Programme.
Vice Dean of Equality, Diversity, and Inclusion
Bartlett School of Architecture, The Bartlett Faculty of the Built Environment, UCLSara Shafiei is an Associate Professor (Teaching) at The Bartlett Faculty of the Built Environment, where she also serves as the Vice Dean of Equality, Diversity, and Inclusion (EDI). Her academic work advocates for curriculum reform and pedagogical innovation in architectural education. Sara developed the pioneering MSci Architecture Programme, marking the most significant shift in architectural education in over 50 years.
Decolonising Public Administration Policy Hackathons
This panel discussion follows two in-person hackathons focused on decolonising public policy and governance. It builds on the ideas and outcomes generated in those sessions, exploring how they can inform more just and inclusive public administration.
If you're interested in finding out more about the hackathon events, click here.
Decolonising Public Administration Policy Hackathon Workshop I (Open Focus)
When: Friday 13th June 2025, 09:00 - 17:00 BST
Where: IIPP, 11 Montague St, London WC1B 5BP
Key Themes:
- Decolonising Communities and Public Spaces (Rev. Dr. Professor Keith Magee)
- Decolonising Economics (Associate Professor Carolina Alves)
- Decolonising Digital Transformation: (Nai Lee Kalema)
- Decolonising Public Governance (Visiting Professor of Practice Rowan Conway)
Decolonising Public Administration Policy Hackathon Workshop II (Health Focus)
When: Tuesday 17th June 2025, 09:00 - 17:00 BST
Where: IIPP, 11 Montague St, London WC1B 5BP
- Decolonising Health AI (Associate Professor Dr Leo Anthony Celi),
- Co-organisers: MIT Critical Data, PLOS Digital Health, Health AI Systems Thinking for Equity (HASTE), National Yang Ming Chiao Tung University School of Law, and the UCL Global Governance Institute’s Global Health Cluster
Find out more about the hackathons
The Decolonising Public Administration Policy Hackathon workshops were made possible through a generous award grant from the UCL Grand Challenges Special Initiative: 2024/25 Decolonising Research Methodologies and Practices, and generous support of the UCL IIPP. Tonight’s panel is part of the 2025 IIPP Forum: Rethinking the State, the UCL IIPP annual global convening, and is also made possible through the UCL IIPP’s generous support.
Further information
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