Praise for good governance: expert commission awards prizes for good and responsible management of public companies at conference

Friedrichshafen. High-ranking representatives from politics, administration, public companies and science came together at Zeppelin University (ZU) from all over Germany and the DACH region to discuss efficient cooperation and collaboration between administration and public companies as well as smart government at the sixth ZU|kunftssalon Public Corporate Governance. Prizes were also awarded for good and responsible organizational management. The event was organized and hosted by a team led by Professor Dr. Ulf Papenfuß from the Chair of Public Management & Public Policy.

At this year's ZU|kunftssalon, around 80 participants discussed various topics relating to integrated design with administration and public companies as well as smart government in lectures, discussion rounds and workshops. The one-and-a-half-day event offered numerous opportunities to discuss public corporate governance as a future-critical topic for the state and society with top-class experts.

During the course of the event, the Expert Commission on the German Public Corporate Governance Model Code, under the academic chairmanship of Professor Dr. Ulf Papenfuß, once again awarded the "Prize for Reflective Governance Practice" and the "Prize for Good Governance Standards" sponsored by PricewaterhouseCoopers GmbH Wirtschaftsprüfungsgesellschaft (PwC). With these prizes, the expert commission aims to give positive approaches nationwide visibility and identify important starting points for reform developments. "We not only want to exert criticism and pressure in the appropriate form, but also explicitly praise and recognize positive examples in justified cases. By awarding the prize, we also want to continue to make good governance a positive design topic," says Papenfuß.

The "Prize for Reflective Governance Practice" is awarded to declarations of conformity with exemplary approaches to justifying deviations from the codes or to structure and design. This year, the prize went to Stadtwerke Bonn GmbH. The "Prize for Good Governance Standards" is awarded to codes that contain exemplary regulations for local authorities. Individual positive approaches are also expressly eligible for the award. This year, the prize was awarded to the City of Frankfurt (Oder), the Hanseatic and University City of Rostock and the City of Leverkusen.

All players involved in public corporate governance are invited to submit declarations of conformity and codes of conduct to the expert commission. The next ZU|kunftssalon will take place on September 4 and 5, 2025.

Further information at puma.zu.de

Picture:

Winners of the "Award for Reflective Governance Practice" and the "Award for Good Governance Standards", PwC representatives Marco Galioto (right) and Björn Blischke (left) as well as members of the expert commission with ZU Professor Ulf Papenfuß (4th from left).