The world is changing, and public administration is changing with it. Polycrisis, instability, multipolarity, geopolitical tensions and an increasing diversity of norms and institutions characterise the complex situation we find ourselves in today. This is pushing traditional administrative and governmental systems to their limits. Since the beginning of the millennium, reform approaches in administrative science have therefore been discussed under the heading of "new public governance", which have also found their way into the development policy debate under keywords such as "comprehensive statehood", "policy coherence" or the "nexus" approach. Against this backdrop, this briefing paper introduces the debate and identifies specific areas where action is needed in Austria, with a particular focus on development policy programming.