# Experimentation and the Right to Fail This note gathers ideas, cases and frameworks about how to legally and administratively enable experimentation and honest failure in public administration. ## Entries **24/09/2024**: **[Free Municipality Experiments](https://www.scup.com/doi/10.18261/njips.3.1.7) (Frikommuneforsøg)** is a policy in Denmark that grant selected municipalities temporary exemptions from national legislation to test innovative approaches in public service delivery. The most recent round (2021–2024) focuses on key welfare areas such as primary education, daycare, and eldercare, with participating municipalities exempted from 60–70% of existing regulations in these sectors. ​ The initiative aims to reduce bureaucratic constraints and empower local authorities to develop more efficient solutions. ^free-municipality-experiments **01/03/2024**: The [_International Day for Failure_](https://www.euronews.com/business/2023/10/13/why-businesses-in-this-european-country-celebrate-their-failures-in-october) began in Finland in 2010 as a student-led initiative to challenge the stigma around failure and promote a culture of learning through experimentation. Celebrated every October 13, it has since grown to include public sector participation, with government bodies organizing events, talks, and campaigns that openly reflect on mistakes and lessons learned. One notable example is [_Herozerohero_](https://valtioneuvosto.fi/en/-/10616/epaonnistumisen-paiva-myos-tyopaikoilla-hapea-pitaisi-kasitel-1) (2016), organized by the [Experimental Finland initiative](https://www.tandfonline.com/doi/full/10.1080/19460171.2021.1985549) within the Prime Minister’s Office (2015-2019), which invited civil servants to share personal stories of both success and failure. Inspired by this approach, Brazilian public servant Felipe Massami Maruyama launched [_FailGov_](https://www.linkedin.com/company/failgov/) in 2024—a space for civil servants and public innovators to share their experiences with failure in government. **27/06/2018**: In Portugal, the concept of the "[right to challenge](https://diariodarepublica.pt/dr/detalhe/portaria/186-2018-115596624)" (_direito ao desafio_) was formalized through Portaria No. 186/2018, which established the Public Management Innovation Incentive System (SIIGeP). This mechanism allows public entities to develop experimental projects aimed at testing new management models to improve public service operations. These projects may involve the temporary suspension of existing legal regimes, enabling innovative approaches within a controlled environment. **11/12/2016**: **[France Expérimentation](https://www.modernisation.gouv.fr/simplifier-la-vie-des-usagers-et-des-agents/france-experimentation)** is a government initiative launched in 2016, managed by the [[Public Sector Reform in France|Interministerial Directorate for Public Transformation (DITP)]]. Its purpose is to allow economic actors to test innovative projects that face legal or regulatory obstacles by granting temporary exemptions under state supervision.​ The program operates similarly to a regulatory sandbox, providing a controlled environment for experimentation. It is grounded in Article 37-1 of the French Constitution, which permits laws and regulations to include experimental provisions for a limited purpose and duration.​