Innovations are key to solving the challenges cities face. But even the best innovation will not change the public sector overnight. Jorrit de Jong draws on his work at the Bloomberg Harvard City Leadership Initiative exploring how understanding the structural building blocks of innovative organisations can help cities and their leaders perform better.  

Using examples from a range of different cities, de Jong will discuss the “Five Es” of innovative organisations – evidence, empathy, engagement, engineering and ensembles – ingrained in the DNA of successful urban problem-solvers in city halls. He argues that to continue improving we need to shift the culture of how we think, and create a climate of questioning the status quo, planting innovative DNA within city halls and nurturing innovators throughout the entire enterprise. 

Meet our speaker and chair

Jorrit de Jong is Director of the Bloomberg Center for Cities and the Emma Bloomberg Senior Lecturer in Public Policy and Management at Harvard Kennedy School. He is the Faculty Co-Chair of the Bloomberg Harvard City Leadership Initiative, a joint program of Harvard Business School and Harvard Kennedy School. His research and teaching focus on the challenges of making the public sector more effective, efficient, equitable, and responsive to social needs.

Ricky Burdett (@burdettr) is Professor of Urban Studies and Director of LSE Cities at the London School of Economics and Political Science.

More about the event

LSE Cities (@LSECities) is an international centre that investigates the complexities of the contemporary city. It carries out research, graduate and executive education, engagement and advisory activities in London and abroad.