Why we exist
We shape our institutions — and then they shape us.
Public institutions worldwide are in crisis. Citizens increasingly view them as neither competent nor ethical. Yet, these institutions are more essential than ever — to address affordability, guide transitions to affordable energy, ensure access to health care, and govern emerging technologies such as AI. In the past, governments have successfully invented new institutions to meet evolving needs. Yet today, remarkably little systematic work is underway to redesign public institutions for our moment — a 21st century of unprecedented disruption, speed, and complexity.
TIAL exists to close this gap. We bring together researchers, practitioners, and policymakers to reimagine how institutions are designed, structured, and adapted — creating prototypes for governance that match the complexity of the challenges we face.
HOW we WORK
A multidimensional practice of institutional design
Our projects can move across two dimensions — the methods we use, and the domains we work in.
| Spot a challenge | Gather possibilities | Develop a prototype | Share learnings | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Cities | The city as mesh | |||
| AI | Safeguarding elections in the age of AI and synthetic content | |||
| Demographics | Institutional innovation for demographic change | |||
| Climate | Climate tipping-point governance | Interchange: Design building blocks for complex science-policy challenges | ||
| General | Governing in turbulent times | A guide for building and maintaining legitimacy |
WHAT WE DO
We are building a field of institutional design
TIAL convenes a growing global network of institutional designers, public sector innovators, researchers, and change-makers across six continents. Together, we are building a new field — one dedicated to creating the possibilities for new and updated institutions that can meet the great challenges of our times.
To build the field, we focus not only on specific domains and methods, but on distilling meaning that can be shared and owned by a broader community of actors. Our work generates new data points both by collaborating on immediate institutional design challenges and by drawing meaning from existing, emerging, or speculative cases.
Research
Frameworks & frontier ideas
Practice
Prototyping new institutions
Synthesis
Distilling research into clear direction for partners
Field Building
Emerges from every mutually-reinforcing practice
Community
Community
Learning
Illustration Cases & insights
Convening
Bringing the field together
The team
A global team of experienced and caring collaborators
Geoff Mulgan
Co-Founder
Jessica Seddon
Co-Founder
Juha Leppänen
Co-Founder
Caio Werneck
Community Coordinator
Arvind Kumar
Research Analyst
The latest
Recent thinking
Stack thinking: Options for reshaping the DNA of governments
Field work: Reflections on TIAL’s second year
Governing in turbulent times
Working Paper: The city as mesh
Upcoming events
Master class: Institutionalising for impact
Join us for an interactive deep-dive learning experience on imagining, structuring, organising and mobilising for long-term & systemic societal change. Hosted by Transition Collective in partnership with TIAL and Demos Helsinki.
The latest
Let’s design the institutions we now need
Whether you’re a government innovator, a researcher, a funder, or a practitioner — there’s a place for you in this work. Reach out to explore how we can collaborate.
