IIPP Forum 2025 - Rethinking the State

View the full programme and book your place here

UCL Institute for Innovation and Public Purpose’s Rethinking the State Forum will take place from 18–20 June 2025, curated this year by Dr Carolina Alves. Over three days, we’ll convene global thinkers, policymakers, students, and practitioners to explore how states can build the capacity to drive inclusive, green, and digital transformations.

Now in its third edition, the Rethinking the State Forum has become a landmark event in the IIPP calendar, showcasing our commitment to reimagining how public purpose is conceived, designed, and delivered.

Through a dynamic mix of public panels, workshops, and interactive dialogues, we’ll explore urgent questions around governance, knowledge systems, and economic power—from decolonising public administration to reclaiming digital sovereignty. Let’s listen, co-create, and reimagine what public purpose means in today’s world. 

Event programme: 

Day 1 - 18th June

• Rethinking Public Value in the Age of DOGE
  18th June - 14:00-15:00 (BST) | UCL Institute for Innovation and Public Purpose
• Building on Dynamic Capabilities: How do Cities Adapt to Tackle Grand Challenges?
  18th June - 15:30-17:00 (BST) | UCL Institute for Innovation and Public Purpose
• Decolonising Public Administration: Rethinking Public Governance and Policy
  18th June - 18:00-19:30 (BST) | UCL Institute for Innovation and Public Purpose

Day 2 - 19th June

• PhD Reading Group - ‘Private Infrastructure in Weaponised Interdependence’ (Lars Gjesvik)
  19th June - 10:30-12:00 (BST) | Senate House, University of London
• A New Economy Movement for a World in Transformation (workshop on invitation)
  19th June - 10:30-17:30 (BST) | Senate House, University of London
• IIPP’s Practice-Based Theorising and Applied Learning with Global Governments
  19th June - 14:30-15:30 (BST) | UCL Institute for Innovation and Public Purpose
• Rethinking Work and Work Organising
  19th June - 16:30-17:30 (BST) | Senate House, University of London
• IIPP MPA Student Poster Exhibition
  19th June - 16:00-21:30 (BST) | Senate House, University of London
• Building Capacity for a Green Transition
  19th June - 18:00-19:30 (BST) | Senate House, University of London

Day 3 - 20th June

• Beyond the Chainsaw: Rethinking Efficiency in Government 
  20th June - 10:00-11:30 (BST) | Senate House, University of London
• From Digital Feudalism to Digital Sovereignty 
  20th June - 12:00-13:30 (BST) | Senate House, University of London
   

View the full programme and book your place here