From May 7 to 9, 2025, Vukovar once again became the center of professional and scientific discussions on public administration.

Organized by the University of Applied Sciences “Lavoslav Ružička” in Vukovar and Šibenik University of Applied Sciences, with the support of partners such as the Faculty of Law at the University of Rijeka, the National School of Public Administration, and the Kyiv National University of Technology and Design, the 15^th International Conference on “Development of Public Administration” was held.

Under the overarching theme “Local and Regional Self-Government: Yesterday, Today, Tomorrow!”, more than ninety authors discussed topics including digital transformation, the legislative framework, sustainable local development, and human resource management in the public sector.

Over the past fifteen years, the conference “Development of Public Administration” has grown into a prominent scientific and professional platform. The number of active participants has been steadily increasing, continuously expanding the valuable network for exchanging research ideas and projects.

The quality of the presented papers has been recognized and reflected in citation databases: the Conference Proceedings are officially indexed in the HeinOnline database, providing the conference with permanent visibility within the international scientific community. The editorial board is also finalizing the documentation for submission to the Web of Science Core Collection (ESCI). This initiative aims to make the research results of the participants accessible to a wider audience, creating additional opportunities for citation and international collaboration.

We would like to thank all authors, reviewers, and partners for their dedicated work, as well as the media sponsor Novi informator d.o.o. for their long-standing support.

We hope that the knowledge gained and new partnerships formed will contribute to the continued development of public administration at the local and regional levels.