The IASIA 2025 Annual Conference will take place in Mexico City, Mexico, from October 13 to 17, 2025, under the theme "Shaping the Future of Governance: Transforming Mindsets, Enhancing Skills, and Expanding Knowledge."

Organized in close collaboration with the National Institute of Public Administration (INAP) of Mexico, the conference will bring together scholars, practitioners, and students from around the world. The program will include plenary sessions addressing key issues in contemporary public governance, thematic panels and forums, sessions led by IASIA’s Working Groups, and a dedicated PhD seminar.

Governance is essential for societal stability, economic development, and effective public administration. The 2025 IASIA Conference recognizes that in a rapidly changing and unpredictable world—marked by technological disruption, climate change, pandemics, and inequality—traditional governance models must evolve.

The conference calls for a transformation in mindsets, upskilling public servants, and expanding knowledge to address complex, modern challenges. It emphasizes ethical leadership, innovation, and inclusive governance models such as AI-assisted policymaking, participatory democracy, and digital transformation. 

Dear Esteemed and Honorable guests, Dear Honorable Partners,
Dear IASIA Community,
Dear Peers, Colleagues, and Friends of IASIA,

In my capacity as the President of the International Association of Schools and Institutes of Administration (IASIA) and on behalf of the Board of Management of our Association, It is an honor and a true pleasure to warmly welcome each of you to the upcoming IASIA 2025 Conference, our annual flagship event.

After a fabulous and successful Conference in 2024 in Bloemfontein of the Free State Province (South Africa),  we will be honored and delighted to meet this year in Mexico City, Mexico, from October 13^th  to 17^th, 2025, under the inspiring and forward-looking Theme: "Shaping the Future of Governance: Transforming Mindsets, Enhancing Skills, and Expanding Knowledge”, in Partnership and close collaboration, cooperation, and co-creation with our esteemed local host, the National Institute of Public Administration (INAP) of Mexico.

This year’s theme captures the urgent imperative to reimagine and reflect on how governance is understood and practiced in a world characterized by growing complexity and unpredictability.

As stated by the Heads of State and Government in the Pact for the Future adopted by the United Nations General Assembly on 22 September 2024 (Resolution A/RES/79/1): “2. We are at a time of profound global transformation. We are confronted by rising catastrophic and existential risks, many caused by the choices we make. Fellow human beings are enduring terrible suffering. If we do not change course, we risk tipping into a future of persistent crisis and breakdown”.

Indeed, from conflicts, to technological disruption, climate change and pandemics, rapid urbanization, migrations and displaced people, to persistent inequalities and vulnerabilities, institutional mistrust, and shifting social demands, governments are confronted with an environment where traditional governance models alone can no longer navigate and operate effectively to meet populations and citizen needs and priorities.

The time has come to rethink our assumptions, cultivate a new culture of governance, and renew our collective commitment to Public Service in a way that is competent, agile, effective, inclusive, ethical, capable to deal with the current challenges, but also to better be prepared for the future.

Transforming governance begins with transforming mindsets at the individual, institutional and organizational levels. This Conference invites all of us—academics, practitioners, public officials, students, and partners—to engage in a critical and creative dialogue on what it means to lead, manage and operate in Public Administration today. We must move beyond outdated paradigms, we must start thinking out of the Box, foster engaged and adaptive leadership, and embrace cultural change across institutions. In parallel, we need to empower public servants by enhancing their skills, investing in digital literacy, data-informed decision-making, participatory policymaking, team work and collective intelligence, while dealing with a responsible integration of artificial intelligence and emerging technologies. Mastering and expanding knowledge also remains vital, as we explore innovative governance models, smart city solutions, sustainability-driven strategies, ethical frameworks, and new approaches to collaboration with all actors and stakeholders (public institutions at all levels of governance, citizens, civil society, private sector, and academia). We need today more than ever to adopt and implement “the whole of Government” and “the whole of Society” approaches to make sure No One, No Place is left Behind as a Global Pledge for the World We Want.

Throughout the Conference, we will engage in high-level plenary sessions, thematic panels, and interactive forums. We will delve into the work of IASIA’s dynamic Working Groups, host a dedicated PhD seminar for early-career scholars, and hold our statutory meetings to reflect on our governance, accountability, and strategic direction.

This will all unfold in the vibrant setting of Mexico City, a place where history, culture, and civic innovation converge in powerful and inspiring ways.

My eternal Gratitude and Deepest thanks go to the President of INAP, Honorable Dr Luis Miguel Martinez Anzures, for his Trust and Support, as well as to the Staff of this Institution mobilized with us in this wonderful new global journey.

My warmest thanks to the Program Committee, chaired by our Functional Vice-President for the Program, Prof. Liza Van Jaarsveldt, with the support of our local colleagues and the tireless staff of IIAS and IASIA.

I also extend heartfelt gratitude to all those who will join us—our guests, our keynote speakers, our panelists, our moderators, our Working Group Chairs, our Members, our Participants, and all the friends of IASIA—whose contributions will shape and enrich this event’s dialogue and work.

On another side, the Conference of 2025 will also be with the end of my term as IASIA President, and it will be a moment not only of accountability, but also to pass the “baton” to another Leader among our Community.

I wish each of you a highly productive and enjoyable Conference, with a serene dialogue and deep interactions. May our time together in Mexico City spark new ideas, strengthen connections and friendships, and pave the way for shaping the future of governance, grounded in competence, integrity, peer-to-peer learning, inclusion, innovation, and trust.

I look forward to welcoming you to the 2025 IASIA Conference in Mexico City, a City well known for its History (La Ciudad de los Palacios), one of the most important cultural and financial centers in the world, the Capital of the Transformation, a land of vibrant traditions and forward-looking Public Service. 

Eternally, yours.

For the National Institute of Public Administration it is a high honor to host the next IASIA 2025 Conference.

Just this year, INAP celebrated its 70^th anniversary, and it should be noted that it has been the civil society body that during that time has been responsible for professionalizing and training thousands of people in the field of public administration, governance, and public policies.

With this vast experience, INAP will enthusiastically welcome the participants of the next Conference, which on this occasion will deal with the theme: Shaping the future of governance: transforming mindsets, improving skills and expanding knowledge.

This transcendent event will be a valuable opportunity to exchange views on the state of public administrations in the different nations that will be worthily represented.

Likewise, the IASA 2025 Conference will be the space in which the challenges that governments will face, the obstacles to be overcome, as well as the discovery of new and imaginative formulas for governance will be underpinned.

Sharing reflections on the topics enunciated, for several days, will mean the endorsement of an academic brotherhood and the consolidation of a network of institutions dedicated to the study and teaching of topics related to public administration and governance.

Mexico will be decked out with your next visit and INAP is pleased to welcome you with open arms.

Congratulations

For inquiries, please contact the organizers at info@iasia-conference2025.org