16-17 October 2025, Budva, Montenegro

For the first time ever, the Directors of Institutes and Schools of Public Administration (DISPA) met outside the European Union, as the ReSPA hosted the two-day meeting titled “Future-Proofing Public Servants: Leading Through Crises While Delivering Results”.

This landmark event positioned ReSPA as a key bridge connecting the EU’s leading public administration institutions with the Western Balkans, reinforcing its mission to integrate the region into the European Administrative Space through dialogue, learning, and innovation.

The meeting opened with welcoming remarks by Marash Dukaj, Minister of Public Administration of Montenegro; Maja Handjiska-Trendafilova, Director of ReSPA; Anna Mitelman and Christiane Keutgens from the European School of Administration; and Bernard Brunet, Head of Cooperation Section at the Delegation of the European Union to Montenegro.

In their addresses, speakers emphasized the importance of strengthening leadership capacity and resilience in public institutions amid complex crises and rapid change, noting the significance of hosting DISPA in the Western Balkans as a milestone in expanding collaboration and knowledge exchange.

Director Handjiska-Trendafilova underlined: “Public administrations in the Western Balkans have been transforming under complex conditions, simultaneously managing reform, recovery, and integration, making the region not only a recipient of EU support but also a source of valuable lessons in resilience and innovation. As EU enlargement returns to the forefront, ReSPA and its members are intensifying efforts to align with the European Administrative Space, with Montenegro symbolizing this commitment through its advanced EU accession process. ReSPA’s growing cooperation with Eastern Partnership countries such as Ukraine, Moldova, and Armenia reflects its belief in a connected and inclusive European administrative community. Set in Budva, where tradition meets modernity, this gathering serves as both a forum for experience sharing and a platform for building partnerships that advance a shared vision of professional, innovative, and citizen-focused public administrations as a cornerstone of a stronger, more united Europe.”

The Minister of Public Administration, Marash Dukaj, emphasized that today DISPA (the Network of Directors of Institutes and Schools of Public Administration) is meeting in Montenegro for the first time, which in a way makes us an active participant in the European Administrative Community, and not merely a candidate for membership: “The Ministry of Public Administration is the first institution in Montenegro to introduce the European Common Assessment Framework for public administration quality, the so-called CAF model, and this year we have also obtained the CAF certificate, which enables the Ministry to provide technical and advisory support to all institutions wishing to initiate or improve their quality management processes,” said Dukaj.

Bernard Brunet from the Delegation of the European Union to Montenegro stated: “Candidate countries face major challenges in building strong and capable administrations that can manage the accession process while preparing for the dynamic EU legislative and programming framework. This meeting represents an excellent opportunity for countries in the region to learn from the experiences of EU Member States’ schools of public administration, which have faced significant challenges related to the impacts of COVID, new financing instruments, technological progress, and an ageing workforce, among others.”

The keynote address, “Designing Leadership for the Unknown: Building Public Institutions That Learn, Adapt, and Deliver,” was delivered by Christian Bason, Co-founder of the Transition Collective and former CEO of the Danish Design Centre. Bason’s systems-thinking perspective invited participants to reimagine leadership as a catalyst for adaptability, experimentation, and human-centred innovation within the public sector.

A high-level panel discussion “Leading While Delivering: How Do We Build Leadership Capacity in Times of Crises and Uncertainty?”, moderated by Christiane Keutgens, featured Daniel Gerson (OECD), Biljana Papović (State Secretary, Ministry of European Affairs, Montenegro), Małgorzata Bywanis-Jodlińska (Director, KSAP Poland), Jacqueline Brown (Institute of Public Administration, Ireland) and Pavel Ivanov (Executive Director, Institute of Public Administration, Bulgaria) who explored how leadership development and organizational culture can drive effective governance in times of volatility.

World-Café session delved into future-proof public administration. Participants were divided into four rotating thematic discussions, each moderated by leading representatives of DISPA member institutions:

1. Designing Future-Ready Learning – How to Anticipate Skills for Tomorrow’s Public Service, moderated by Ioana Melenciuc, President, National Institute of Administration, Romania
2. Data-Driven People Management, moderated by Marilette van As, Coordinator for International Affairs, Ministry of the Interior and Kingdom Relations, Netherlands
3. Mentoring and Coaching for Leadership and Innovation, moderated by Abel Carreira, Member of the Board of Directors, National Institute of Administration, Portugal
4. Executive Trainings and Mobility Schemes: What is the Added Value?, moderated by
   Marija Grga, Head of International Cooperation and Projects Department, National School for Public Administration, Croatia

The discussions culminated in a plenary reflection session, summarizing insights and shared priorities for fostering adaptive, data-informed, and learning-oriented public administrations.

Day Two: Collaborative Action and Future Vision

The second day focused on building collaborative action around the World Café themes, with participants brainstorming future joint initiatives to strengthen ties between EU Member States and enlargement countries.

A highlight was the presentation of the 2025 Strategic Foresight Report, “Resilience 2.0: Empowering the EU to Thrive Amid Turbulence and Uncertainty,” presented by experts from the European Commission’s Joint Research Centre and Dr. Eleftheria Ftaklaki from the Special Secretariat of Foresight, Hellenic Republic.

The session on Innovative Training Practices Across the EU and Western Balkans,  moderated by Anna Mitelman, brought together Pavlina Stoykova (Deputy Programme Director, European Institute of Public Administration (EIPA), Abel Carreira (National Institute of Administration, Portugal) and Radmila Tomović (Head of International Cooperation Department, National Academy for Public Administration, Serbia), who showcased cutting-edge examples of learning innovation and cross-border collaboration.

In the closing session, representatives of the upcoming DISPA Presidency and the ReSPA team reflected on the achievements of the meeting. They underscored the importance of embedding foresight, innovation, and collaboration at the heart of public administration reform - both within the EU and across the Western Balkans.

Hosting DISPA in the Western Balkans marked a historic milestone for ReSPA, symbolizing trust, partnership, and the growing interconnectedness of public administration systems across Europe. The Budva meeting reaffirmed ReSPA’s pivotal role in enabling the region’s civil service institutions to connect, learn, and lead alongside their EU counterparts in shaping a future-proof public administration.