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Salzburg Global Fellow Elaine Yeung recounts her experience at the Creative Bureaucracy Festival

During a meet-up at this year’s Creative Bureaucracy Festival, participants were invited to set things on fire – at least figuratively. At this event, hosted by think tank Demos Helsinki, we were encouraged to identify an existing public sector attribute we would like to get rid of, write it down on a piece of paper, and — since lighting it indoors would breach fire safety regulations – “burn” the attribute by depositing the piece of paper in a box and receiving a box of matches in return. Freed from existing constraints, we now had room to think about what the new ethos of the public sector might look like. 

Change – even in the most complex, bureaucratic structures – often begins at a personal level. From main stage presentations and discussions in the studios to hands-on sessions on a boat, the “human” aspect of bureaucracy was a recurrent theme throughout the festival. Why is it important to focus on interpersonal collaboration despite, or precisely because of, technological developments, especially in artificial intelligence? How can governments ensure accessible (analog) options for the offline octogenarian amidst digitalization? What must the public sector do to better reflect increasingly diverse societies, so that a newcomer might feel just as well represented as a local? How can local authorities help constituents gain a sense of ownership and belonging in their neighborhoods? What could a prototype for evaluating inclusion at the workplace look like? 

Change is just as much about questioning phantom regulations and challenging the status quo. Change also takes time. Trust is at its core, and building trust is a process spanning months or years; even decades. And change inevitably involves setbacks: representatives of the placemaking movement prefaced their meet-up with examples of initiatives that ultimately did not prevail (to our relief, they subsequently shared success stories in which projects led to continued improvements in residents’ lives.)

Our Salzburg Global Seminar meet-up focused on two topics woven into the Public Policy New Voices Europe Fellowship’s DNA: diversity and inclusion. How might we be empowered to create change in the public policy space – and in doing so, ensure that it becomes more reflective of our society? How must diversity and inclusion be applied to public cultural institutions’ work, so that they can better engage with, and stay relevant to, their communities? 

Attendees shared experiences of how diversity and inclusion have impacted both their personal lives and workplaces. We agreed that initiatives must be focused on long-term, structural change, and not appear as one-off trophy projects without lasting impact. We spoke about the importance of resilience. And we recounted encounters in which we have personally benefited from living and working with people from backgrounds different to ours, as well as how our lives are enriched through learning from each other. As Public Policy New Voices Europe Fellows, we have the privilege of being exposed to diverse cultural and professional contexts. But equally, we have the responsibility to create space, and a level playing field, for those who are not yet heard. 

In our meet-up, we also examined diversity and inclusion in the context of public cultural institutions’ relationship with civil society. Attendees discussed why these partnerships have become increasingly important, what cultural institutions can learn from their communities, and why these collaborations are mutually beneficial. These topics closely relate to my work at the Humboldt Forum, a Berlin cultural landmark at the center of current debates on restitution, post-colonialism, and German history. In the context of our museum collections, the Humboldt Forum is cognizant about listening, and giving a platform, to traditionally excluded or marginalized voices. As a relative newcomer, we also acknowledge that we can, and must, learn from our communities: not only about what makes them identify with this neighborhood or city; but also what they wish for, what is currently lacking, and what is expected of us. Only when these groups become part of the Humboldt Forum’s narrative can the institution be truly representative of a diverse civil society.

A recently published European Commission report, Culture and Democracy: The Evidence. How citizens’ participation in cultural activities enhances civic engagement, democracy and social cohesion, affirms that culture is at the core of robust societies. Cultural activities encourage expression, dialogue, and participation amongst groups with different backgrounds and interests, thus leading to a stronger sense of shared identity and belonging – and an increased willingness to advocate for each other. These common experiences are a powerful tool for empowerment and social capital: they bridge socio-economic boundaries and create “trust, tolerance and empathy”, instrumental in problem-solving and conflict resolution. This report asserts that cultural organizations must be “inclusive and representative of the whole of society through the types of cultural activities and outputs that they support, the audiences they attract, the stakeholders they work with, and their leadership”. The conclusion drawn in our meet-up resonates with this report: cultural institutions must go beyond passive initiatives and actively reach out to their communities by carefully considering, and implementing, what is relevant to the people around them. 

For me, the Creative Bureaucracy Festival was an important reminder that bureaucracy isn’t only about stiff, unintelligible processes removed from our daily lives. On the contrary: we can shape bureaucracy into something that speaks to, and for, us; structures in which we all have a stake. Regardless of whether or not we work in the public sector, we have the power to bring about change in bureaucracy – because it is ultimately about how we, as local residents and global citizens, want to live (and how we want to live together) better.

Elaine Yeung is social media manager of the Humboldt Forum in Berlin where she is responsible for developing and implementing a social media strategy that reflects the institution's identity as the city's newest cultural landmark, as well as its commitment to dialogue, diversity and exchange. She is an urbanist and a communications specialist committed to strengthening the ties between arts and culture, urban development and public policy. Elaine's first professional encounter with sustainable urban development was through her projects as a consultant for the NGO Designing Hong Kong. Previously, Elaine worked as an arts administrator in the classical music industry, where she has a decade's experience in communications, artist management and project management with organizations in Germany, the United States and Hong Kong. Elaine holds a BA in music and English from New York's Barnard College, Columbia University and a MSc in urban studies from University College London.