From 17 to 25 October 2026, the Ministry of the Interior and Kingdom Relations (BZK) will take part in Dutch Design Week (DDW) in Eindhoven. As Northern Europe’s largest design event, DDW attracts more than 300,000 visitors each year. For professionals working on digital government, it’s an opportunity to explore how design can help address societal challenges.
Here, the focus is on designing public-service policy. A design-led approach helps avoid assumptions about how services operate in practice. It places the experiences of citizens, entrepreneurs and professionals involved in service delivery at the centre, while also considering the levels at which change is needed. This is achieved through an iterative process of research, co-creation and testing.
Designing the government of tomorrow, together
Government increasingly uses a design-led approach. You can see and experience it at the DDW exhibition ‘Building the state together: the government of tomorrow‘, where civil servants and visitors work together to explore what the government of the future could look like. Visitor insights help shape responses to shared challenges, such as ‘One government, always the right door’. The starting point is that an effective government delivers excellent public services, including digital services.
Visitors can engage with thought-provoking statements, contribute to design questions, and take part in hands-on activities in the design workshop. They can also explore examples of collaborations among designers, civil servants, policymakers, and experts.
Design-led approach to public services
The government aims to be one government: accessible, understandable and human. The Public Services department of the Ministry of BZK applies a design-led approach to achieve this. “Our mission is to create human-centred policy that fits practice. We design the necessary change together with public service providers, and above all with citizens, entrepreneurs and professionals in the delivery of services. It is a learning and delivering approach: step by step, we improve public services,” says Anouschka Scholten, policy designer at the Ministry and involved in organising the DDW.
Building the state together is an initiative by the Ministries of General Affairs, Interior and Kingdom Relations, Justice and Security, Social Affairs and Employment, Public Service and Communication, the Court of Audit and the Netherlands Enterprise Agency.
Practical information on Building the state together
The exhibition ‘Building the state together: the government of tomorrow‘ is free to visit. Tickets are required for other parts of the DDW. Find out more about prices, opening hours, the location and other practical information.
