Summary
In his opening keynote, Christian Bason, CEO, Danish Design Centre, will share insights from his nearly two decades of work with civic design as an approach to human-centred innovation and sustainable change. Based on his experience from running MindLab, the Danish government’s innovation team, as well as academic research and hands-on design projects with public organisations, Christian will assess the past and present of civic design. He will suggest that while it may seem there is a clash between the empathy, creativity and formgiving in design versus the objectivity, analytics and rationality of bureaucracy, they can be reconciled. The world needs both stability and change, and civic designers who can embrace both perspectives have the potential of transforming how we run government to the benefit of people, society and the planet. Christian will end his presentation by proposing some future directions for civic design that can unleash its full potential in the years to come.
Key Insights
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Civic design is fundamentally about discovering what changes are needed, not just managing change, emphasizing empathy with citizens.
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Embedding design studios and labs inside government ministries can shift design from a creative tool to a strategic change partner.
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Civic design balances the stability and accountability of bureaucracy with the flexibility and innovation of human-centered creativity.
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Successful civic design incorporates co-creation with marginalized communities to surface diverse problem definitions and solutions.
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Design methodologies enable governments to prototype policies by imagining citizens’ day-to-day experiences under new regulations.
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After a decade, managers who have embedded civic design in their organizations largely maintain belief in its value despite political or structural changes.
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Empathy and bureaucracy are not contradictory; bureaucracy provides the structure within which empathy can be operationalized.
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Future civic design must adopt systemic, mission-oriented approaches addressing complex societal challenges rather than isolated projects.
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Ethics and inclusion, particularly in technology and AI, must be central to civic design to ensure humanity remains prioritized.
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Reimagining organizations as human-centered and self-managing—beyond fixed hierarchies and silos—can unleash creativity and responsibility throughout government.
Notable Quotes
"Civic design is challenging because it’s about discovering what kind of changes are needed, not just managing change."
"We need to balance bureaucracy and stability with the ability to change and transform."
"Design makes the abstract tangible, transforming concepts into something with shape and expression."
"Embedding design in government can turn creative studios into strategic change partners."
"After 10 years, public managers still believe civic design is the right approach."
"It is a fake contradiction to say empathy and bureaucracy cannot coexist; we actually need bureaucracy to have empathy."
"The experience of working in justice with civic design focuses on understanding the citizen experience in very hard, sensitive areas."
"We must go beyond labs and create human-centered organizations that allow everyone to choose their own leaders and roles."
"Ethics and inclusion especially around AI in government is essential — just because we can build something, should we do it?"
"The essence of civic design is human centeredness and unleashing creativity to create a more just and sustainable world."
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