LIST OF WORKSHOPS

1.  General Objectives

The workshop aims to explore how integrity can be strengthened through context-sensitive governance, historical consciousness, and social innovation. Historical consciousness emphasizes awareness of how past injustices, abuses of power, and systemic corruption shape contemporary values, institutions, and policy decisions, particularly amid the growing politicization of democracies across both the Global South and North. Integrating this awareness into anti-corruption strategies fosters ethical reflection, democratic accountability, and resilience. The workshop further seeks to highlight the mutual learning potential between the Global South and North contexts, exploring how experiences and innovations in one region can inform policy in another. By combining theoretical inquiry, empirical research, and practical policy perspectives, the panel aims to develop actionable insights for both scholars and practitioners working in governance, anti-corruption, and democratic reform.

The overarching goal is to provide a multidimensional understanding of integrity as a process situated at the intersection of ethics, social innovation, and historical reflection, bridging past, present, and future in policy and practice. This approach conceptualizes integrity as a dynamic governance capability understood as an ongoing alignment of ethical principles, innovative action, and reflective learning that enables institutions to act consistently with shared values across time. It emphasizes integrity not as compliance, but as a continuous process of ethical adaptation and value-driven innovation in public policy and practice.

The workshop is fundamental, innovative and timely to situate the discussion in contexts of crisis and vulnerability. It would allow us to explore the genesis of institutions (from all sectors) and the debate between the state-building agenda which usually focuses on the function of these institutions to stabilize contexts of violence, injustice, and poverty, on the one hand, and the anti-corruption agenda, which is often misunderstood and considered a strategy to solve multiple problems at once.

2.  Research Questions

The workshop addresses the following central questions:

a.    Corruption and Democratization

       - How do corruption dynamics evolve in fragile state contexts during and after democratic transitions?

       - How does systemic corruption interact and persist in democratic institutional settings?

       - What role does corruption play in the historical processes of democratization?

b.    Historical Consciousness and Integrity

        - How can societies use historical awareness to prevent the recurrence of abuses of power and corruption?

        - How can historical reflections inform the design of integrity policies and governance frameworks?

        - How do narratives of past corruption crises shape contemporary public trust and reform legitimacy across regions?

        - What role do civic and collective memory practices play in shaping ethical values, principles and norms?

c.    Social Innovation and Policy Design

        - How can social innovation enhance or hinder the transparency, participation, and policy effectiveness of integrity strategies?

        - How can civil society, community networks, and grassroots initiatives complement formal integrity mechanisms?

        - How can innovation be institutionalized in ways that respect context and inclusivity while promoting sustainable policy impacts?

d.    Global Learning, Policy Integration and Policy Transfer

        - How can lessons from the Global South inform anti-corruption and integrity policies in northern contexts, and vice versa?

        - How can anti-corruption, integrity, historical awareness, and social innovation be integrated into coherent governance strategies?

        - How can these approaches contribute to achieving SDG 16 and broader democratic resilience?

3.  Scientific Relevance and Contribution
 

This workshop contributes to debates in public policy, governance studies, anti-corruption research, and social innovation by offering a holistic and interdisciplinary perspective on integrity. It frames corruption as a systemic and historically embedded challenge rather than merely a result of moral failure, opportunity cost calculation, or technical weakness, and emphasizes solutions and emphasizes solutions that combine reflection and action beyond dichotomic patterns of corruption, drawing on evidence and lessons learned from political, economic, and social systems. By integrating South–North learning and policy transfer perspectives, the workshop aims at advancing a comparative understanding of how integrity-driven approaches can be contextualized, adapted, and scaled across diverse governance settings.

3.1  Historical Consciousness as a Governance Tool
The concept of historical consciousness extends remembrance culture into a globally relevant framework. By recognizing how past injustices, authoritarian practices, and governance failures shape contemporary institutional and civic norms, policymakers and practitioners can design integrity interventions that are historically informed and culturally sensitive. Historical consciousness becomes both a moral compass and a practical instrument, linking lessons from the past to present policy choices and democratic reform.

3.2  Social Innovation as a Policy Mechanism
The workshop highlights the role of social innovation in anti-corruption and integrity promotion. Participatory governance, civic technology, and collaborative accountability initiatives illustrate how innovative practices can complement formal institutional frameworks. These approaches empower citizens, mobilize communities, and create experimental spaces for ethical and adaptive policymaking. Social innovation serves as a bridge between historical awareness and actionable policy, allowing creative solutions to emerge from local contexts while being scalable across regions.

3.3  Comparative and Transnational Learning
A key contribution is the focus on South–North and North–South learning. Considering the allegations regarding the origins and political uses of the anti-corruption movement and how it has become a hollow discourse and a tool for reproducing asymmetrical power dynamics, the workshop seeks to explore the lessons from adaptive governance, community-based accountability, and resilience strategies under high-corruption conditions present in the Global South, while also considering the historical process of the Global North that provides tested institutional frameworks, digital monitoring tools, and cross-border collaboration mechanisms. By facilitating a reciprocal exchange of knowledge, the panel encourages policymakers to integrate context-specific insights with global best practices, thereby enhancing the effectiveness and legitimacy of anti- corruption initiatives.

3.4  Integration with Sustainable Development Goals
Framing integrity and anti-corruption within the SDG agenda situates these efforts within broader societal and development priorities. SDG 16 emphasizes accountable, inclusive, and transparent institutions, highlighting the relevance of historically informed and socially innovative policies. By connecting integrity and historical consciousness to these goals, the panel underscores how anti-corruption strategies contribute to sustainable, just, and resilient governance systems.

3.5  Methodological Innovation
The panel welcomes contributions employing diverse methodologies, including historical analysis, comparative case studies, participatory research, policy evaluation, and social innovation assessment. This interdisciplinary approach allows for a rich understanding of how integrity, historical awareness, and innovation intersect to produce actionable governance insights.

4.  Expected Outcomes

The workshop aims to deepen the understanding of integrity as a multidimensional phenomenon that connects corruption, social innovation, and historical consciousness. It seeks to generate policy-relevant insights that strengthen democratic institutions and anti- corruption measures across diverse contexts. By fostering mutual learning between actors from the Global South and North, the project emphasizes adaptive and context- sensitive approaches. Additionally, it aims to identify best practices and research gaps that can inform future collaborations, joint publications, and research networks. Ultimately, it strives to link historical reflection with actionable policy tools, demonstrating how remembrance and innovation can work together to reinforce institutional integrity.

It will contribute to policy debates integrating historical consciousness into public integrity and anti-corruption strategies while leveraging social innovation to promote participatory, inclusive, and adaptive governance. A major goal is to emphasize cross-regional learning to develop context-sensitive and evidence-based anti-corruption policies and aligns integrity-focused governance strategies with SDG 16 and broader goals for democratic sustainability. By linking historical awareness, social innovation, and cross-regional learning, the panel bridges research and policy, providing insights that are academically rigorous and practically relevant for governments, international organizations, and civil society.

References

Appiah, P.B.; Grimm, H.M. (2025). Landscape of social innovation research in the global south: trends and implications for future research. Journal of Entrepreneurship and Public Policy, https://doi.org/10.1108/JEPP-07-2024-0111.

Arib, E.; Grimm, H.M.; Pimienta Gonzalez, C.; Rebai, A.M. (2025). Corruption Research. Understanding Ten Core Challenges. Research Paper.

Bittle, S.; Frauley, J.; Snider, L. (2024). Critical Perspectives on Anti-Corruption(ism): The Corruption of Anti-Corruption(ism). Journal of White Collar and Corporate Crime 5 (2), 83–84. DOI: 10.1177/2631309X241252501.

Bratsis, P. (2014). Political Corruption in the Age of Transnational Capitalism. Hist Mater 22 (1), 105–128. DOI: 10.1163/1569206X-12341334.

Bukovansky, M. (2006). The hollowness of anti-corruption discourse. Review of International Political Economy 13 (2), 181–209. DOI: 10.1080/09692290600625413.

Fritzen, S. (2005). Beyond “political will”. How institutional context shapes the implementation of anticorruption policies. Policy and Society, 24(3), 79–96. https://doi.org/10.1016/S1449- 4035(05)70061-8

Galtung, F. (2005). Measuring the immeasurable: boundaries and functions of (macro) corruption indices. In Measuring Corruption, edited by: Galtung, F. and Sampford, C. London: Ashgate.

Johnsøn, J. (2016). Anti-corruption strategies in fragile states. Theory and practice in aid agencies. Chelthenham UK, Northhampton Massachusetts: Edward Elgar.

Peters, B. G., & Fontaine, G. (2025). Problem Structuring in Anti-Corruption Policies. Public Integrity, 1–18. https://doi.org/10.1080/10999922.2025.2525675.

Pimienta, C.; Nieto Morales, F.; Gómez-Álvare, G. (2025): Politicization and public appointments: An Introduction. In Fernando Nieto, Calep Pimienta, David Gómez-Álvarez (Eds.): The Politics of Public Appointments in Latin America: who holds the keys? [S.l.]: Palgrave Macmillan.

Rabbi, M. F., Park, Y., Aggarwal, J., & Sabharwal, M. (2025). Effect of Ethical Leadership on Affective Organizational Commitment and the Mediating Role of Ethical Environment. Public Integrity, 1–19. https://doi.org/10.1080/10999922.2025.2490406

Rose, R. & Peiffer, C. (2019). Understanding Corruption in Different Contexts. In: Grimm, H.M. (eds) Public Policy Research in the Global South. Springer, Cham. https://doi.org/10.1007/978- 3-030-06061-9_3

Vivona, R., Demircioglu, M.A. & Cinar, E. (2025). Reverse knowledge spillover theory of public sector entrepreneurship. J Technol Transfer. https://doi.org/10.1007/s10961-025-10220-y

Wedel, J.R. (2015): High Priests and the Gospel of Anti-Corruption. Challenge 58 (1), 4–22. Available online at https://www.jstor.org/stable/26772892.

We invite scholars, practitioners, and policymakers to submit proposals for a workshop that explore the multidimensional nature of integrity conceived not as mere compliance, but as a dynamic governance capability. This workshop seeks to reframe anti-corruption and governance reform by integrating historical consciousness, social innovation, and context-sensitive policy design, with a particular emphasis on mutual learning between the Global South and North.

Workshop Theme

Integrity is often treated as a static outcome or a technical fix. This workshop challenges that view, framing integrity as a process of ethical alignment, adaptive governance, and continuous innovation. We aim to develop an interdisciplinary and practical understanding of how institutions can act consistently with shared public values across time especially in contexts of crisis, democratic transition, and vulnerability. Historical consciousness provides a vital foundation, highlighting how past injustices, systemic corruption, and abuses of power shape contemporary values and governance structures. Social innovation, in turn, offers tools for participatory reform, enabling new forms of transparency, accountability, and civic engagement. Together, these dimensions inform governance strategies that are context-sensitive, inclusive, and resilient.

Core Topics and Research Questions

We welcome submissions that address, but are not limited to the following themes:

1. Corruption and Democratization

- How do corruption dynamics evolve in fragile and transitioning states?

- What role does systemic corruption play in the historical development of democracies?

2. Historical Consciousness and Integrity

- How can societies draw on historical memory to inform present-day governance?

- What is the role of collective memory and civic narratives in shaping public trust and reform legitimacy?

3. Social Innovation and Policy Design

- How can grassroots initiatives and civic technology enhance integrity systems?

- What institutional frameworks best support innovative, participatory, and context-aware anti-corruption policies?

4. Global Learning and Policy Transfer

- How can experiences from the Global South inform integrity practices in the North, and vice versa?

- What models of policy transfer support sustainable and ethical governance across diverse contexts?

Goals and Contributions

This workshop contributes to debates in public policy, governance, anti-corruption, and social innovation by: Advancing comparative, interdisciplinary research on integrity as a governance process; Promoting South–North and North–South mutual learning to challenge asymmetric power dynamics in anti-corruption discourse; Bridging academic research and policymaking through actionable insights and historical reflection; Linking integrity to the Sustainable Development Goals (particularly SDG 16) and broader democratic resilience efforts.

Submission Details

Please submit an abstract of 300–500 words outlining your proposed paper or presentation, including your research question, methodology, and key insights. 

This workshop explores how integrity, social innovation, and historical consciousness can jointly strengthen democratic governance and anti-corruption policies. By linking past injustices and institutional legacies to present-day reform challenges, it highlights how historical awareness fosters accountability and ethical policymaking. Drawing on comparative experiences from the Global South and North, the workshop discusses how context-sensitive and innovative approaches aligned with SDG 16 can translate lessons from history into actionable strategies for integrity and inclusive governance.

Prof Heike M. Grimm holds the Aletta Haniel Professorship for Public Policy and Entrepreneurship at the University of Erfurt, where she also serves as Vice Director of the Willy Brandt School of Public Policy. She was formerly the university’s Vice President for International Affairs (2014–2020) and twice served as Director of the Brandt School (2006–2008, 2015–2019). She studied Political Science, Economics, Economic History, and Arabic at Ludwig‑Maximilians University, Munich and SOAS, University of London. She has held appointments at University of Malta, visiting posts at Indiana University Bloomington, the Higher School of Economics (Moscow), and the Max Planck Institute of Economics in Jena.

Her research and teaching focus on the intersection of entrepreneurship, social and policy innovation, and sustainable development. Her projects examine policy learning and comparative governance in both the Global South and North funded. Among others, by the European Science Foundation, European Commission, OECD, German Federal Ministries of Economics as well es Education and Research, and the Haniel Foundation.

Among her recent publications, she co-authored a paper of how cultural values shape entrepreneurial behavior with M. Aly and D.B. Audretsch, published in the Journal of Entrepreneurship and Public Policy (2025). Another recent article, co-authored with P.B. Appiah (2025), maps the landscape of social innovation research in the Global South, highlighting emerging trends and future research directions. Additionally, her collaborative work with J. Corredor Jimenez, L. Ceesay, and M. Wondirad (2023) examines lessons from African countries during the COVID-19 pandemic, arguing for reciprocal learning in global health policy published in the Journal of Comparative Policy Analysis.

Prof. Grimm is the founding lead of the Integrity Policy Network (IPN) at the Brandt School, an interdisciplinary, international initiative to promote context-sensitive anti-corruption strategies, accountability, and ethical governance through research, capacity-building, and South–North knowledge exchange (www.brandtschool.de).

Prof Mehmet Akif Demircioglu is an Associate Professor at the School of Public Policy and Administration at Carleton University in Canada. His research focuses on public management, public sector innovation, entrepreneurship, good governance, and effective leadership, with a strong emphasis on international and comparative perspectives. He holds Master of Public Affairs (MPA) and PhD degrees from the O’Neill School of Public and Environmental Affairs at Indiana University–Bloomington. Prior to joining Carleton, he was an Assistant Professor at the Lee Kuan Yew School of Public Policy (National University of Singapore) from 2017 to 2022.

Prof. Demircioglu is affiliated with several leading global institutions. He is an Executive Education Fellow at the Lee Kuan Yew School of Public Policy, a Senior Fellow at the Smart Government Lab (University of St. Gallen), a Joint Researcher at the Institute for Future Government (Yonsei University), a Research Fellow at the Institute for Development Strategies (Indiana University), and a Fellow at the Center for Organization Research and Design (Arizona State University).

He serves as Book Review Editor for Public Administration Review and Associate Editor for Public Management Review, European Management Journal, Australian Journal of Public Administration, and Journal of Comparative Policy Analysis.

His recent publications include two co-authored books: Public Sector Innovation (with David Audretsch), published by Cambridge University Press in 2024, and Demographic Shifts and Digital Innovation in the Public Sector (with M. Di Loreto and Kohei Suzuki), published by Springer in 2025.

Prof. Demircioglu’s work has been recognized through multiple awards, including three consecutive Research Excellence Awards (2018, 2019, 2020) from the Lee Kuan Yew School and the Best Teaching Award (2015) from the O’Neill School.

Calep Pimienta González

Calep Pimienta González is a political scientist and doctoral candidate in Law and Social Sciences, specialized in integrity systems, and holds a Master of Public Policy from the Willy Brandt School of Public Policy, University of Erfurt. His research bridges political science and public administration, focusing on the governance of integrity systems, anti-corruption policies, and accountability institutions in Latin America. He has worked as a research and project coordinator at Transversal Think, a metropolitan think tank based in Guadalajara, Mexico, where he coordinated projects in collaboration with GIZ, the Inter-American Development Bank, and national research and development institutions such as CIDE, El Colegio de México, and Ethos. He is also the founder and co-director of Co-Integra, Centro de Incidencia Pública A.C., an emergent organization that promotes evidence-based public integrity and citizen participation initiatives.

His recent work includes the edited volume The Politics of Public Appointments in Latin America: Who Holds the Keys? (2025), co-edited with Fernando Nieto-Morales and David Gómez Álvarez, which explores how public appointments are influenced by political and administrative factors and their impact on governance, state capacity, and democratic legitimacy across Latin America, highlighting challenges of politicization and possibilities for merit-based reforms; the book Sin cuotas ni cuates: Designaciones públicas y captura de cargos (2024), co-authored with David Gómez Álvarez, which examines public appointments in Jalisco to understand political capture of state institutions, offering key lessons on the politicization of positions such as magistrates, auditors, and prosecutors; and the article Discretion of Public Appointments in Mexico: A Review of Organizational Arrangements in Subnational Appointments (2025), published in the International Review of Administrative Sciences, which analyzes how organizational arrangements can constrain discretion in subnational appointments in Mexico and influence governance outcomes, highlighting factors such as local stakeholder engagement, transparency, and independent scrutiny.

He is a founding member of the Integrity Policy Network (IPN), an initiative of the Willy Brandt School of Public Policy that fosters research, exchange, and policy innovation on integrity and governance.