Report from the 2025 Public Sector Strategy Network Annual Foresight Retreat synthesizes insights about public strategy in transition amid rising geopolitical tensions and domestic challenges
This report synthesizes insights from the Public Sector Strategy Network "Annual Foresight Retreat: Public Strategy in Transition." This session, held in May 2025 in Salzburg, Austria, was organized around the theme of public strategy in transition amid rising geopolitical tensions and domestic challenges to legitimacy and capacity.
The analysis reveals that effective strategy today requires building adaptive capacity that can simultaneously address external geopolitical pressures and internal legitimacy demands. This means redesigning public finance for strategic flexibility, rebuilding institutions to scale responses that maintain democratic accountability, and regrounding strategy in public dialogue that connects global challenges to local concerns.
Building on insights from the 2024 retreat, which focused on navigating a permanent polycrisis, this year’s discussions shifted from immediate crisis management to embedding adaptive capacity within public institutions. Participants examined how to redesign public finance for strategic flexibility, institutionalize innovation beyond pilot projects, and rebuild democratic legitimacy through power-sharing and equitable digital governance.
The report consists of three interconnected parts:
- Part 1: The Durability Trap
- Part 2: Adaptation Gaps
- Part 3: Critical Transitions
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The Public Sector Strategy Network equips governments to tackle complex challenges through improved foresight, innovation and implementation. Co-created with senior leaders from around the world, it is building a mutually-supportive coalition of individuals and institutions on the frontline of digital, financial and societal disruption, promoting effective public leadership and strategic communication.
The annual invitation-only retreat is organized by Salzburg Global and supported by the Office of Development Affairs, Government of Abu Dhabi, in partnership with Apolitical.
