CeADAR contribute to a timely and thought-provoking event hosted by University College London last month, titled “Decolonising Public Administration: Rethinking Public Governance and Policy.” This event served as the closing panel of UCL’s year-long series focused on decolonial approaches to public governance, co-led by UCL IIPP and STEaPP under the #IIPPForum2025 umbrella.
The discussion invited participants to imagine new frameworks for governance and institutional design that challenge long-standing legacies of coloniality in global policy systems.
CeADAR Senior Data Scientist, Sebastián Cajas Ordoñez represented CeADAR on a panel of experts and thought leaders, including Prof. Carolina Alves, Dr. Leo Anthony Celi, Rowan Conway, and Rev. Dr. Keith Magee.
The panel critically examined how narratives of power, exclusion, and inequality shape the functioning of modern institutions and how public administration can be reimagined through decolonial lenses.
Key themes included inclusive policy design, the democratisation of knowledge in global governance, and the need to embed justice and equity at the heart of institutional innovation.
Special thanks to the event convenors—Prof. Rainer Kattel, Prof. Julius Mugwagwa, and Nai Lee Kalema—for orchestrating a dynamic and impactful series.
CeADAR remains committed to engaging with global conversations on responsible innovation, and this dialogue reinforces the need to interrogate how power, technology, and governance intersect.
Key Takeaways
- Decolonising governance requires rethinking how power and legitimacy are structured in institutions, centering justice, equity, and historical context.
- Inclusive policymaking must move beyond consultation to genuine co-design with underrepresented communities, acknowledging lived experience as expertise.
- Responsible innovation means embedding values like humility, curiosity, and critical reflection into the design of tech and policy systems – not just optimizing for efficiency.