Conference Agenda

The Opening Ceremony is meant to welcome delegates to the conference.  The hosting institution and their leadership and partners will open the event and express their views on hosting the conference and the importance of the conference theme. The Rapporteurs will provide an introductory report on the Conference and provide the participants with key elements and insights about the Conference 2024.

The Keynote Speakers will tackle today's complex challenges, including the aftermath of the COVID-19 pandemic, geopolitical tensions, and climate change. Emphasizing Einstein's idea that new thinking is required to solve contemporary issues, speakers will explore the need for alternative service delivery models. These models prioritize innovation, collaboration, and flexibility, involving private companies, NGOs, and community groups to enhance public services.

The conference will address critical aspects about the government's role in alternative service delivery, and enhancing societal responsiveness. By fostering diverse perspectives, the IASIA 2024 aims to improve global public service delivery, promoting sustainability and democratic governance.

BRICS is the acronym for an association of 5 major emerging global economies, namely Brazil, Russia, India, China and South Africa. The initial four countries constituted “BRIC”, but with the addition of South Africa 2010, it graduated to “BRICS”, the grouping consisting of all leading developing or newly industrialised countries globally. However, several new countries have since made applications to join BRICS, namely United Arab Emirates; Saudia Arabia, Ethiopia, Iran and Egypt.

The BRIC grouping of countries have been characterised by their fast growing and huge economies and resultant impact they have had globally. BRICS countries have since 2009 met formally on an annual basis at global summits. BRICS countries according to Goldman Sachs are G20 members, and by 2050, the initial four founding BRICS members will emerge as the leading economies internationally. BRICS countries since 2015 are representative of a global population that exceeds 3.6 million people or almost 40% of the world populace. BRICS unlike the European Union is not a political coalition, but they can emerge as a powerful economic/trading block if need be. The principles of equality, mutual benefit and non – interference govern their bilateral relations.

The general citizenry, private and the nongovernmental sector have all played an increasingly significant role of late in transforming local spaces to enhance service delivery, due to poor public governance. This has in turn signified a gradual move away from the state sector which was previously the sole provider of public services. The result effect is that the notion of partnership has been placed high on the governmental agenda and key to that process is enhanced state society relations which involves and includes inter alia, co – operation, collaboration, deregulation, outsourcing and shared services.

The BRICS Panel will examine progress on alternative service delivery in selected BRICS countries globally. More specifically, it will focus on : what prompted the need for alternatively service delivery; the current governance framework; progress that has been made to date; challenges experienced and possible solutions in terms of moving the process forward.

There will be 5 panelists and each of them will be given 10 – 12 minutes each for their presentations, and thereafter the session will be open for points of clarity, observations and questions.

The Panel will be chaired by Prof P S Reddy, a Professor in the Graduate School of Business and Leadership and Emeritus Professor in the School of Management, IT and Governance at the University of KwaZulu Natal in Durban, South Africa.

Water and sanitation services are essential basic services that communities must have reliable and sustainable access to, however, such provision must also conform to acceptable national standards. Over the years, municipalities have been grappling to provide clean water and dignified sanitation to communities because of a lack of data-driven water services management processes, use of manual mechanisms to conserve and supply water, aging infrastructure, inadequate project management and lack of skills amongst others. South African municipalities are Constitutionally mandated with the responsibility of providing basic services to communities. This responsibility is enshrined in Sections 24 and 27 of the Constitution of the Republic of South Africa.

There are 144 Water Services Authorities (municipalities) in South Africa, comprising a network of 958 Water Supply Systems (WSS). The Free State Province accounts for 80 WSSs supplying a population of 3 028 741. According to the Department of Water and Sanitation, the state of wastewater services in Free State are in a critical state and require remedial action. Furthermore, the Green Drop Report (2023) depicts that 64 WWTWs in the province achieved a score of below 31%. Blue Drop (2023) Free State WSSs performance is depicted as follows:Capacity Management (53.3%), Risk Management (37.6%), Financial Management (49.3%), Technical Management (28.1%) and Water Quality Compliance (39.5%). The above scores show a total score of 41.56% on the five area of water supply performance, with a worrying outcome on technical management, risk management and water quality compliance. What this means for municipalities is that there is a requirement to bring about alternative solutions to improve the status quo and provide clean, usable, good quality water to communities.

The 2022 Census data provides a mixed picture of access and quality of service. FS has done well as it has the third highest levels of access to water (3% has no access to piped water), with 58% of households reporting interruptions (ranked number 5 of 9). The FS has made steady progress in the provision of sanitation, with 76.3% of households having flush toilets (third best), however the FS has the second highest bucket toilet use in the country (3.5% of households). This is extremely concerning as government has declared bucket toilets as unacceptable and undermining the dignity of people. The panel discussion is underpinned by the need to entrench alternative solutions for providing reliable, sustainable, and good quality water, complemented by dignified and safe sanitation to all communities. The panel seeks to firstly understand why status quo persists and then consider context appropriate innovative alternatives that can improve the state of municipal water and sanitation services in the Free State. The discussion will be broad leveraging on the experience, exposure, and expertise of the panel members.

Panel Discussion Questions:

1. Setting the scene (question to each panelist): Are municipalities unwilling or unable (or its both) to provide sustainable and reliable water and sanitation services? and why do you hold this view?

2. Water and sanitation are trading services meaning they ought to be financially sustainable. What is the situation in the FS (across the value chain) and how might we improve status quo? What do we do differently?

3. Besides the IGS' advanced work in groundwater research, what sustainable alternative solutions can you advise Water Service Authorities to implement in the quest to provide firstly access to ground water and secondly to clean usable water?

4. Since IGS is an ISO accredited institution, what services can you provide to Water Services Authorities in the Free State Province?

5. Following on the financial sustainability, municipalities claim low revenue collection rates are undermining their ability to provide services and there is an inherent culture of unwillingness to pay. Communities claim they can’t pay for poor and intermittent services how do we solve this chicken and egg situation?

6. As the regulator you have a unique perspective. What are your reflections on FS WSA performance on the Drop Programmes and what are you doing to create an enabling environment (with incentives and disincentives) to improve compliance (effectively quality and sustainability of services)?

7. The WRC, CSIR, DTI etc are all doing good work to solve challenges we face in the sector. Give us some highlights of potential alternative service delivery solutions we could focus on and a reflection on why up-take is not where it ought to be on these solutions, especially in FS and how can we change this?

8. Closing round: Each panelist to share one thing they think we could do to improve the quality of water and sanitation services in the FS through alternative service delivery and sustainable societal responsiveness.

The IASIA 2024 Conference Host Country Panel will address key issues in South Africa's governance and socio-economic landscape. Discussions will focus on the protection of socio-economic rights and the future of local municipalities through co-governance. This session aims to offer valuable insights into improving public service delivery and governance in South Africa.

This panel explores the potential legal frameworks and governance structures necessary to operationalise Water-Energy-Food (WEF) Communities in South Africa, focusing on enhancing community self-sufficiency and strengthening democratic engagement in rural areas. Despite the constitutional mandate, the South African government has struggled with service delivery in critical areas such as water, energy, and food security.

WEF communities offers a promising integrated approach, but remains largely theoretical.

This panel discussion aims to map out the evolution of legal vehicles that could support the establishment of WEF communities, and does so with reference to a case study of the Matatiale Community under Chief Nkasela. Legal vehicles to be introduced and discussed include: Traditional council agreements, Stokvels, Cooperatives, as well as instruments established in terms of the National Water Act.

Questions to be Discussed:

1. Legal Frameworks and Governance Structures:

• What existing legal frameworks can be adapted to support the WEF Nexus approach?

• How can multi-governance systems be utilised to foster effective WEF communities in South Africa?

2. Operational Challenges and Solutions:

• What are the primary challenges in transforming the WEF communities from a theoretical model to an operational reality in rural South African communities?

3. Community Engagement and Empowerment:

• How can the legal structures promote community ownership and decision-making in the management of water, energy, and food resources?

4. Case Study – Matatiale Community:

• What steps are involved in establishing a WEF community?

This panel will provide a chronological discussion of the potential legal vehicles to fully establish WEF communities, exploring how different stages might require distinct legal approaches and community engagement strategies.

The Capacity Development Workshop, held within the 2024 IASIA Conference in Bloemfontein, South Africa, will focus on the "Importance and Relevance of the Standards of Excellence for Public Administration Education and Training." Initiated by UN DESA in collaboration with IASIA, this effort aims to update the 2008 Standards to align with recent inter-governmental agreements and the 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development. The workshop seeks to strengthen public institutions and services for SDG implementation, enhance the role of public administration institutes in workforce preparation, integrate SDGs into curricula, and ensure an inclusive review process through global engagement.

The world’s population passed 8 billion in late 2022 with much of the increase concentrated in ever-expanding urban areas where more than 80 percent of global Gross Domestic Product (GDP) is generated. By 2030, 60 percent of people will live in urban areas. These cities, towns, and settlements are already home to many of the world’s development challenges – as well as many of its opportunities.

A series of compounding challenges – economic, social, and environmental – has meant an unprecedented period of uncertainty for many urban areas. Climate-fueled disasters are becoming more frequent, intense, and unpredictable for urban communities. At the same time, local authorities are striving to recover from the COVID-19 pandemic and other systems-wide crises, such as water, food, and energy.

In the face of such a challenging context, there is the opportunity for national and local governments to scale up their disaster risk reduction and climate adaptation actions to protect citizens and local infrastructure assets and systems. To make this happen these governments and other stakeholders (students, youth, communities, private sector) need support through education and training, bringing to them best practices and practical solutions, which education and training institutes can provide.

Objectives:

This panel will address the following questions:

-       What are the examples of education and training supporting governments and other stakeholders embed risk reduction at the core of integrated local development planning?

-       What critical factors can help to create partnerships between urban governments and academic institutions to improve risk informed decisions?

-       How can training and education facilitate greater local government-private sector partnership through networks and platforms, to increase municipality access to wider technical skills and solutions?

As the world faces increasingly complex and interconnected challenges and problems, we need leaders who can confidently lead their organisations, teams, and communities through periods of turbulence and change. As the level of public service expenditure becomes increasingly tighter and as resources available become more rationalised (including those who work in and for public service agencies), the place and role of purposeful, aligned and engaging public service leadership becomes even more of an imperative. We suggest that public service leaders need to be highly attuned to their environment and their people, and first and foremost, themselves, their personal values, orientations, and behaviours. We suggest that organisations and communities will be hampered in terms of their development and futures if their leaders merely follow prescriptive, rule bound, limited, and limiting management practices. We suggest that for leadership that makes an impact on positive change and development in organisations and/communities, leaders need to cultivate a highly attuned level of self-awareness and self-consciousness which is a prerequisite to learning, which itself is a cornerstone to leadership effectiveness.

We strongly advocate the concept of the ‘learning leader’ and ‘engaged followership’. Further, we suggest that leaders who can ‘genuinely learn’ and ‘learn genuinely’ can grow and develop much needed capabilities, orientations, and aptitudes, all of which enable leaders to not only survive challenging times but to become more confident and capable in navigating their organisations, followers, and communities forward through uncertain and rapidly changing contexts.

Building on the work of learning theorists like Argyris and Schön (1978), Kolb (1984), Revans (1980), Pedler (2012), and others, we have developed, in the context of leadership development, a learning framework that reconceptualises concepts of learning and change and offers two revised models (one of learning and one of change). We would suggest that these serve as powerful and tested frameworks for enabling leaders to reimagine their purpose, role, and practice.

We are seeking to move beyond a presentation of the frameworks and analysis of the approach at a theoretical level only. As such, we propose to run a practical workshop that aims to introduce participants to the concept of a Learning Leader and its relevance to contemporary public service organisations and/community leadership and share with participants two diagnostic frameworks and tools to help them reflect on their understanding of their own leadership practice and capacity and capability to lead others through periods of change and crises. These tools and frameworks have been tried and tested and very well received as part of leadership programmes for a variety of organisations and groups including the Ethiopian public service, university Course Leaders, and mentees on the London Higher mentorship programme.

This workshop would be of relevance to senior leaders in public service organisations who are interested in developing a deeper understanding of their leadership contribution to their organisations and to the wider community. We would particularly welcome those who value reflective based learning as a tool for self-insight and development.

Practical Implications

Each participant will be given the results of a diagnostic questionnaire which they can use as the basis to identifying leadership behaviours for leading their organisations, teams and/or communities.

Originality/Value

We believe this approach is innovative, both conceptually and as a ‘tool’ that can be applied in practice.

This first Panel on Promoting the Principles of Effective Governance for Sustainable Development (PEG for Sustainable Development) is a pivotal event designed to delve deep into the 11 Principles of Effective Governance drafted by the United Nations Committee of Experts on Public Administration (UN-CEPA) and endorsed by the Economic and Social Council in 2018.

These principles fall under 3 key pillars:
- Effectiveness: Competence, Sound Policymaking, Collaboration;
- Accountability: Integrity, Transparency, Independent Oversight;
-Inclusiveness: Leaving no one behind, non-discrimination, participation, subsidiarity, Intergenerational Equity.

The PEG form the backbone of effective governance strategies globally. They are linked to 62 commonly used strategies for operationalizing responsive and effective governance in lign with Agenda 2030 for Sustainable Development, and in particular with the SDG 16. Many of these strategies have been recognized and endorsed over the years in various United Nations forums, resolutions and treaties.

This first Panel aims to introduce this newly created Working Group within IASIA, and elucidate how the PEG can be practically applied to navigate the complex landscape of sustainable development and achieve the SDGs effectively. By bringing together a diverse array of experts, practitioners, and policymakers, the PEG seeks to foster an enriching dialogue on the multifaceted aspects of governance, accountability, and inclusiveness. The Panel on PEG for Sustainable Development promises to be an engaging and insightful session, providing a platform for in-depth discussions on the critical role of governance principles in achieving sustainable development goals globally.

This Working Group serves also as a pivotal platform for scholars and practitioners alike to share their research insights and perspectives within these critical areas. While contributions that address specific questions are encouraged, we also welcome submissions that extend beyond these parameters, encompassing a broader spectrum of relevant topics and discussions that consider the following questions.

Questions to consider for future contributions:
- Where we are in the implementation of the PEG for Sustainable development?
- How can effective leadership ensure institutions have the required competence, expertise, resources, and tools to implement the PEG, and gain effectiveness?
- How can integrity, transparency, and independent oversight be ensured to promote accountability and ethical conduct in public service?
- What strategies can be adopted to promote accountable Public Institutions, including among Schools and Institutes of administration?
- What measures are effective in promoting open government, proactive disclosure of information, and regulatory independence?
- How Public institutions and other actors and stakeholders can be more inclusive to leave no one behind?
- How can the PEG impact the alternative service delivery to better meet population and citizen needs?
- What are the best practices about the PEG?
- What is the significance of effective governance for a country's development? What is the importance of efficient governance in promoting modernization for developing countries?
- What political structures and institutional mechanisms are required to facilitate efficient governance?
- What are the current limitations in advancing effective governance, and what obstacles are being encountered?
- What is the correlation between effective governance, and democracy, liberty, the rule of law? What is the correlation between efficient governance and bureaucracy?
- What impact do a nation's political culture and traditions have on facilitating efficient governance?
- What are the next planned steps for this Working Group, and how can interested individuals contribute?
- What measures can this Working Group take to facilitate academic exchanges within countries?
- What are the future goals of our Working Group? What initiatives can be coordinated, and what resources can be searched around the world?

As the world faces increasingly complex and interconnected challenges and problems, we need leaders who can confidently lead their organisations, teams, and communities through periods of turbulence and change. As the level of public service expenditure becomes increasingly tighter and as resources available become more rationalised (including those who work in and for public service agencies), the place and role of purposeful, aligned and engaging public service leadership becomes even more of an imperative. We suggest that public service leaders need to be highly attuned to their environment and their people, and first and foremost, themselves, their personal values, orientations, and behaviours. We suggest that organisations and communities will be hampered in terms of their development and futures if their leaders merely follow prescriptive, rule bound, limited, and limiting management practices. We suggest that for leadership that makes an impact on positive change and development in organisations and/communities, leaders need to cultivate a highly attuned level of self-awareness and self-consciousness which is a prerequisite to learning, which itself is a cornerstone to leadership effectiveness.

We strongly advocate the concept of the ‘learning leader’ and ‘engaged followership’. Further, we suggest that leaders who can ‘genuinely learn’ and ‘learn genuinely’ can grow and develop much needed capabilities, orientations, and aptitudes, all of which enable leaders to not only survive challenging times but to become more confident and capable in navigating their organisations, followers, and communities forward through uncertain and rapidly changing contexts.

Building on the work of learning theorists like Argyris and Schön (1978), Kolb (1984), Revans (1980), Pedler (2012), and others, we have developed, in the context of leadership development, a learning framework that reconceptualises concepts of learning and change and offers two revised models (one of learning and one of change). We would suggest that these serve as powerful and tested frameworks for enabling leaders to reimagine their purpose, role, and practice.

We are seeking to move beyond a presentation of the frameworks and analysis of the approach at a theoretical level only. As such, we propose to run a practical workshop that aims to introduce participants to the concept of a Learning Leader and its relevance to contemporary public service organisations and/community leadership and share with participants two diagnostic frameworks and tools to help them reflect on their understanding of their own leadership practice and capacity and capability to lead others through periods of change and crises. These tools and frameworks have been tried and tested and very well received as part of leadership programmes for a variety of organisations and groups including the Ethiopian public service, university Course Leaders, and mentees on the London Higher mentorship programme.

This workshop would be of relevance to senior leaders in public service organisations who are interested in developing a deeper understanding of their leadership contribution to their organisations and to the wider community. We would particularly welcome those who value reflective based learning as a tool for self-insight and development.

Practical Implications

Each participant will be given the results of a diagnostic questionnaire which they can use as the basis to identifying leadership behaviours for leading their organisations, teams and/or communities.

Originality/Value

We believe this approach is innovative, both conceptually and as a ‘tool’ that can be applied in practice.

• The Donald C. Stone Award honors a distinguished international scholar and/or practitioner for advancing the well-being of IASIA. Created in 2010, this award pays tribute to one of IASIA's founding fathers, Donald C. Stone.
  
  
• The O.P. Dwivedi Award, established in 2008, honors O.P. Dwivedi for his leadership and long-lasting contribution to IASIA. This award recognizes a distinguished international scholar or practitioner for their significant contribution to public administration and the advancement of public policy worldwide.
  
  
• The Pierre DeCelles Award distinguished the author(s) who presented for the best paper at the previous IASIA Conference.

At the IASIA 2024 Conference Closing Ceremony, participants will gather to reflect on the enriching experiences and discussions of the past week. The ceremony will feature reports from our esteemed rapporteurs, who will present key insights and takeaways from the academic sessions, highlighting the innovative ideas and collaborative efforts shared during the conference.

Following the rapporteurs' presentations, a distinguished expert will offer conclusions and reflections on the academic activities. These insights will provide a broader perspective on the impact of the discussions and the future direction of public administration.

The closing ceremony will also acknowledge the hard work and dedication of all speakers, panelists, organizers, and participants, emphasizing the collective contributions that have made the conference a success. This final session aims to inspire continued collaboration and innovation in public administration, encouraging attendees to apply the knowledge and connections gained during the event to their professional endeavors.