In recent years, governments worldwide have been navigating an era of polycrisis, where overlapping and interconnected crises have strained public institutions, tested democratic resilience, and exposed governance gaps. From democratic backsliding and financial instability to rising populism and declining trust, the challenges are profound and ongoing.

The 33rd NISPAcee Annual Conference, titled “Polycrisis and multi-level governance: Impacts, lessons learned, challenges and opportunities”, was held in Bratislava, Slovakia, on May 22–24, 2025.

The conference was organised in cooperation with the Faculty of Economics and Finance of the Bratislava University of Economics and Business, under the auspices of the Mayor of Bratislava, Matúš Vallo, and the Chairman of the Bratislava Self-Governing Region, Juraj Droba. It featured several working groups, sessions, and panels.

It brought together researchers and practitioners to explore how governments and stakeholders respond to the polycrisis, what early lessons could be drawn, and how more adaptive and accountable governance systems could be built for the future.

Pavol Bors, from CELSI and FSES at Comenius University in Bratislava, participated as a discussant and presenter at the conference.

He presented his paper, “Local Governments as Public Actors in the European Just Transition Framework: A Case Study of Slovakia”, which was guided by Multi-level Governance (MLG) and Path Development theories and investigated local governments’ roles in Central and Eastern Europe (CEE), focusing on constraints and opportunities within existing public administration frameworks.

🔗 See the abstract of Pavol Bors’s paper at: https://www.nispa.org/conference/2025/paperdetail.php?&p=6299&pid=11160