V4 Jamboree: Programme | V4 Jamboree " Living out of stereotypes"

Miroslav Beblavý, Slovakia

Miroslav Beblavý is a Member of the Slovak Parliament (since 2010) and a Senior Research Fellow at CEPS - Centre for European Policy Studies (since 2009). He is also the Associate Professor of Public Policy at the Comenius University in Bratislava, Slovakia. Between 2002 and 2006, he was the State Secretary of the Ministry of Labour, Social Affairs and Family in Slovakia. His areas of interest include employment and social policy, education policy, fiscal policy, governance and corruption.

Milan Andrejkovič, 1st Slovak Nonprofit Service Center, Director, Slovakia

Project manager: Elena Žáková, zakova@nispa.org

Jamboree venue: Ústav vzdelávania a služieb, Bárdošova 33, Bratislava, Slovak Republic

Target group: Young public policy and administration professionals from V4 countries - represented by MA and PhD students of Public Policy and Public Administration and new graduates of PA and PP who are, in some way, involved in public policy making.

Objective: To initiate and encourage cooperation and networking, and to find a new informal way of thinking for young public policy professionals and future policy makers in the V4 region.

Expected outputs: - An e-publication, with a set of selected case studies, developed by participants in the Jamboree, which could be utilised for educational activities by the project partner institutions and other NISPAcee member institutions within the V4 countries and beyond.

- An informal network of young public policy and administration professionals from V4 countries for their future cooperation in problem solving cases in practice.

NISPAcee Jamboree Programme:

March 25, 2014 Tuesday
	Arrival of participants
March 26, 2014, Wednesday
9:00 – 10:30	NISPAcee welcome.
9:00 – 10:30	Introduction of the programme and methods. Introduction of participants.
10:30 – 11:00	Coffee break.
11:00 – 11:45	Interactive brainstorming lecture (dialogue between lecturer and participants): Utilisation of Formal and Informal Solutions within Public Policy Making: How to Be a Better Public Policy Maker.
11:45 – 12:45	Role playing game (for 2 groups): Devil´s advocate (Status quo instead of innovation?).
12:45 – 13:45	Lunch.
13:45 – 14:00	Energiser.
14:00 – 15:00	Out-of-the-box game (for 2 groups): How to be different (moderated brainstorming).
15:00 – 15:15	Coffee break.
15:15 – 16:00	Presentation by Slovak practitioner: Traditional and untraditional way of dealing with public policy making.
16:00 – 17:00	Moderated discussion on complex public problems (e.g. corruption) and potential /innovative/untraditional methods/tools to overcome such problems (2 groups).
17:00 – 18:00	Presentation of case studies by participants: How to think "out of the box” in dealing with serious public policy issues.
18:00 – 19:00	Dinner.
19:00 – 21:30	Social evening (Different experience, different tastes).
March 27, 2014, Thursday
9:00 – 10:30	Presentation of case studies by participants: How to think "out of the box” in dealing with serious public policy issues.
10:30 – 11:00	Coffee break.
11:00 – 12:30	Presentation of case studies by participants: How to think "out of the box” in dealing with serious public policy issues.
12:30 – 13:30	Lunch.
13:30 – 13:45	Energiser.
13:45 – 15:15	Development of case studies and discussion on potential (alternative) solutions (2 groups): Mutual inspiration and potential integration of new tools/methods into existing cases.
15:15 – 15:30	Coffee break.
15:30 – 17:00	Development of case studies and discussion on potential (alternative) solutions (2 groups): Mutual inspiration and potential integration of new tools/methods into existing cases.
17:00 – 18:00	Presentations of potential modifications by participants: New ways (methods/tools) on how to deal with our issues.
18:00 – 19:00	Dinner.
19:00 – 21:30	Social evening (Bratislava in the evening).
March 28, 2014, Friday
9:00 – 9:45	Presentations by practitioner: Traditional and untraditional way of dealing with public policy making.
9:45 – 10:30	System thinking games (Group brainstorming competition): How to open the system and what can be done in the future.
10:30 – 11:00	Coffee break.
11:00 – 12:30	Feedback related to developed case studies: Lessons to be learned.
12:30 – 13:30	Lunch.
13:30 – 14:30	Evaluation of the event. Closing.

Programme of the NISPAcee Jamboree includes several different activities put forward to achieve the main objective. They will allow young public policy makers to share their experience, improve their knowledge, and learn how to think "out of the box” in order to be ready to deal with various public policy issues in a more untraditional or informal way.

The jamboree activities inter alia include:

Lectures

The lecturers will argue the most fundamental issues of the relevant topics. The main goal of this activity is to show the complexity of those issues and the compelling need to study them with an interdisciplinary approach. The lectures will contain not only theoretical frameworks, but also practical examples, in order to demonstrate both traditional and untraditional solutions. The participants represent the target group for this activity.

Discussions

Every educational activity is followed by relevant discussions. Participants have an opportunity to ask questions, make brief comments and freely discuss the contents of those activities. The aim is to encourage participants to formulate their own ideas and to deal with the relevant issues with an open mind.

Case studies

The participants who take part in the event are asked to develop case studies from their own countries/cities in advance on innovations in public policy making and to present them during the jamboree in order to share their knowledge and experience. Consequently, the case studies will be discussed and developed within the joint discussions.

Each participant should send his/her own case study (max 5 pages) to the organisers (zakova@nispa.org) in advance - by March 19, 2014 at the latest. All case studies should be innovative in terms of the tools/methods that are used within public policy making and must be based on real cases.

Each participant will present his/her case study during the event (max 15 min presentation).

The organisers will distribute the case studies to the other participants prior to the event, for their review, so that they can prepare for the discussions.

The selected case studies developed by participants within the Jamboree will be finalised, edited and published in e-publication form after the event. This will be available on the web-sites of the project partners and can be utilised for educational activities of the project partner institutions and other NISPAcee member institutions within the V4 countries and beyond.

Presentations of the practitioners

Invited practitioner(s) will present their own experiences in the relevant field. It is expected that they will briefly present a problem area and policy tools that are utilised in order to overcome any failures or shortages. The main goal of this activity is to inspire participants and provide them with new insights.

Participation fee

The participation of the selected participants is free-of-charge.

Board and lodging

Selected participants will be accommodated in:

Ústav vzdelávania a služieb, Bárdošova 33, Bratislava, Slovak Republic

The accommodation in single rooms (max 3 nights) plus meals during the event will be arranged and covered by NISPAcee through the V4 grant. The selected participants from Bratislava are not eligible for funding of accommodation.

Travel costs

The travel costs to the venue should be covered by the participants themselves or by their institutions. We are sorry, but these cannot be covered by the grant.