Governance International - Study Visit Programme 2

Study Visit Programme 2007

Governance International is pleased to announce that it will organize and facilitate six Good Practice Study Visits in 2007. Each of these exciting and innovative Study Visits will take place over two days and include a number of site visits to cutting-edge organizations and partnerships. The directors and staff of Governance International will also give you briefing presentations and background material which help you to get maximum benefit from the visits. The working language of the visits will be English. If more than 6 people desire interpretation into another language we are happy to provide consecutive translation into Russian, German, French, Spanish or Italian.

Study trip to the Netherlandson social inclusion, integration and safety,

26-27 April 2007

The new Urban Policy programme of the Dutch central government puts a strong emphasis on “social aspects, integration and safety” in Dutch cities. Indeed, the Dutch government has been praised by the EU Commission for its implementation of the National Action Plan against Poverty and Social Exclusion. This has given rise to a myriad of successful approaches to tackle these problems from from different angles, such as fighting discrimination, education, promoting labour participation and stimulating integration.

The study trip will showcase the a number of projects which succeeded in improving the social participation and access to services of ethnic minorities in The Hague, the partnership-oriented approach of the Haaglanden police forces in dealing with cases of honour and a civic street policing scheme in districts with high proportion of ethnic population in Rotterdam.

The issues to be explored on this trip will be:

How to develop partnership approaches improving the objective and subjective perception of safety of citizens
How to improve access to decent housing of socially disadvantaged groups
How to improve integration to the labour market of vulnerable groups
How to overcome particularly high levels of exclusion and discrimination experienced by ethnic groups

Study trip to the Stuttgartregion on citizen participation,
10-11 May 2007

The South-Western state of Baden-Württemberg is at the top of the league in Germany in terms of citizen engagement. Our visit will take you to several very impressive organisations - an award-winning local authority, a private sector company which has won acclaim for its involvement of staff in social responsibility programmes and several other champions of good governance in the region. The programme will conclude with a session on how to develop a joined-up approach to citizen engagement.

The issues to be explored on this study trip will be:

How to develop a community of active citizens
How to make local councillors part of participatory processes
How to get local companies and the press engaged in supporting citizen engagement
How to sustain citizen engagement
How to develop and implement a co-ordinated strategy of citizen engagement, not just a set of separate initiatives

Study trip to Finlandon E-government,
7-8 June 2007

According to the OECD, Finland is No. 1 in e-government. Our visit will show you why and focus on latest developments.

The issues explored on this study trip will be:

How to overcome the digital divide
How to join-up public service delivery with e-government
How to use ICT effectively in education and adult learning (e-learning)
How to develop and implement a coherent strategy for the information society, not just a set of separate initiatives

The study trip will give you the opportunity to explore innovative e-government projects in Helsinki and Tampere which involves a 2 hour train journey.

Study trip to Tuscanyon sustainable development,
18-19 June 2007

The Province of Siena has a long-standing tradition of sustainable rural development. Unlike other famous regions of Italy, it has been eager to protect its rich endowment of idyllic rural landscapes, artistic and cultural assets, as it recognised at an early stage that it can only be a successful tourist destination if it manages to balance the ever increasing demands for car traffic with the desire of tourists and local residents to live in a quiet and peaceful environment. At the same time, the low density and very dispersed pattern of towns provide a major challenge to efficient service delivery at local level – a challenge which has necessitated imaginative use of e-government approaches.

This challenge is particularly acute for waste management. Consequently, the Province of Siena set up in 1996 a Waste Management Observatory to carry out environmental analyses, to keep citizens informed about changes in the local environment and engaged in improving that environment, and to integrate the system of waste management.

However, sustainable development in Siena goes well beyond environmental issues, focusing also on public health and community safety issues.

The issues to be explored on this study trip will be:

Innovative e-government solutions to providing public services in a rural area
How to set-up and manage an integrated waste management system in an area with urban sprawl and low population density
How to involve citizens in sustainable development initiatives
How to develop and implement an action-oriented strategy of sustainable development

Study trip to the United Kingdomon Quality and Performance Management,
18-19 October 2007

UK public agencies have had more than 20 years of experience with quality and performance management tools and approaches. This makes the UK a particularly interesting case to explore the practical impacts of tools and approaches which are now spreading to the public sectors of other European countries and beyond. This is your chance to hear from senior officials and front-line staff what lessons can be learnt from the UK. The study trip will include visits to the Cabinet Office, the Audit Commission and other public agencies in the London area.

The issues to be explored on this study trip will be:

- How to improve customer orientation through service charters

- How to design and run a Balanced Scorecard

- How to carry-out self-assessments based on the EFQM model

- How to organise effective benchmarking circles

Study trip to the Parisregion on participative budgeting,
6-7 December 2007

The recent riots in France have shown how important it is to give citizens a say and to listen to them. Our visit will lead you to local government champions with a long-standing experience in participative budgeting.

The issues explored on this trip will be:

Three different approaches of running participative budgets
Giving citizens a role in holding the local council to account
Mobilising ethnic minorities to get involved

Participation fee

The fee for each individual attending a visit is EUR595 or £395. This covers all briefings during the visits, the written materials prepared by Governance International (including a post-trip CD ROM of all important documents related to the case studies), travel during the visits, meals and refreshments. Participants will cover their own travel to and from the venue and their accommodation costs. (All participants will have the opportunity to stay in a good hotel at which we have negotiated a preferential rate).

Note: There is a discount for the second person registering from the same organisation and a larger discount for each further person. There is also a 20 percent discount for participants from public sector organisations in Central and Eastern Europe.

Registration

If you are interested in our study visits please download the registration form at http://www.govint.org/english/fprodgln.html or get in touch with us (email: elke.loeffler@govint.org).