Friday, May 12, 2006            11:00 AM - 12:30 PM

The quality of government has a major impact on the lives of individual citizens and the orderly functioning of society. Systematic training programs are essential to ensure the quality of (future) government officials. Through accreditation, the European Association for Public Administration Accreditation (EAPAA) wants to make a contribution to the quality improvement and assurance of academic level Public Administration programs in Europe. The European Accreditation of Programs on Public Administration by EAPAA refers to: the evaluation and continuous improvement of Public Administration programs that are offered by European universities and other academic level institutes with regard to their ability to satisfy stated or implied standards of quality followed by a formal decision to recognize or not to recognize the program.

Information about the EAPAA, established in 1999, and all related documents for accreditation of public administration programmes can be accessed through their website http://www.eapaa.org/. The workshop session aims to provide institutions and individuals from the NISPAcee region with an opportunity to learn in more details about EAPAA businesses and also with an opportunity to contribute with comments and proposals on the EAPAA activities and functioning. Invited speakers will share with the conference participants their experiences of ongoing accreditations and preparation for accreditation. These speakers include the General Secretary of EAPAA, members of the Accreditation Committee and representatives of programmes which have already been accredited. Opportunities for accreditation of PA programmes from CEE countries will be discussed. Members and potential members of EAPAA are invited to participate.