P41 Preparing Public Leaders for Polycrisis
Preparing Public Leaders for Polycrisis: Executive Public Management Education, Capacity Building, and Democratic Governance in an Era of Complex Challenges
Panel Chairs
Corresponding Chair
Dr. Sara Rinfret
Professor, Northern Arizona University, United States; NASPAA
Email: sara.rinfret@nau.edu
Review Group Chair
Dr. Jenny M. Lewis
Professor, School of Social and Political Sciences, Faculty of Arts
The University of Melbourne, Australia
Email: jmlewis@unimelb.edu.au
Co-Chairs
- Crystal Calarusse, Executive Director, NASPAA
- Dr. John Diamond, Edge Hill University, United Kingdom
Panel Theme
Public administrations worldwide face increasingly interconnected and overlapping challenges, including climate-related disasters, public health emergencies, cybersecurity threats, democratic backsliding, fiscal pressures, and rapid technological change. These "polycrises" require public leaders who can navigate complexity, uncertainty, and ambiguity while maintaining democratic legitimacy, public trust, and organizational effectiveness.
This panel examines how executive public management, public administration, public policy, and leadership education programs develop the competencies, values, and adaptive capacities needed for governance in an era of complex challenges. We invite contributions that explore how executive education, leadership development initiatives, and professional learning programs can strengthen public sector capability across government, nonprofit, and cross-sector settings.
Relevant sub-topics include, but are not limited to:
- Executive public management and leadership education
- Leadership competencies for uncertainty, crisis management, and resilience
- Public sector capacity building and organizational learning
- Curriculum innovation and experiential learning approaches
- Wicked problems, grand challenges, and polycrisis governance
- Collaborative, network, and cross-sector governance
- Digital governance, artificial intelligence, and emerging technologies
- Ethics, accountability, and democratic governance
- Practitioner-academic partnerships and co-production
- Adaptive governance and public sector innovation
- International and comparative perspectives on executive education
- Professional development and leadership academies for public servants
Types of Abstracts Sought
The panel welcomes theoretical, empirical, comparative, and practice-oriented submissions that advance understanding of how executive public management education and leadership development contribute to effective governance in complex environments.
We encourage a broad range of methodological approaches, including:
- Qualitative and quantitative research
- Mixed-methods studies
- Comparative and international analyses
- Case studies
- Program evaluations
- Longitudinal research
- Curriculum and pedagogical analyses
- Practitioner-informed scholarship
Submissions may focus on executive MPA/MPP programs, leadership academies, professional development initiatives, public sector training programs, nonprofit leadership development, cross-sector learning models, or other approaches designed to strengthen public leadership and governance capacity.
The panel particularly welcomes contributions that offer practical insights for educators, practitioners, policy makers, and institutions seeking to prepare public leaders to address contemporary governance challenges while upholding democratic values and public trust.
Note: If accepted, this panel may be affiliated with the Scholarship of Teaching and Learning SIG currently under consideration.