MINELRES: CfA: MMCP Executive Workshop: Serving the Public

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Original sender: Meghan Simpson <LGIResearch@osi.hu>


Responding to Challenges of Promoting Social Justice through Local
Public Service Delivery in Wider Europe

Organized by the Local Government and Public Service Reform Initiative
of the Open Society Institute � Budapest

Budapest, Hungary
12-17 February 2008

Deadline for Application: 10 December 2007
Notification of Selection: 17 December 2007
Working Language: English 

Introduction

This innovative, international workshop aims to assist mayors and other
senior decision-makers in local governments and public administrations
from Central and South East Europe to design and implement local service
delivery policies that conform to European standards of social
integration. The workshop seeks to promote change in approaches to
policy development and emphasize the role of governments in creating
more just and inclusive societies. 

Sessions will provide an open, professional forum through which
participants can share experiences, discuss major challenges, and learn
about opportunities for the integration of technical, organizational,
social and political aspects of policy-making. Over the course of four
days, workshop facilitators and participants will engage in a
constructive dialogue about innovative approaches to the management of
social diversity and inequalities, looking at the links between social
justice and notions of effectiveness and efficiency in public service
management and delivery. Facilitators will present a critical review of
recent thinking and practices regarding social diversity issues in
Central and South East Europe, and explore skills and tools essential
for the management of public services in diverse communities. 

By the end of the workshop, participants will:

- clarify values underlying on-going policies and practices in their
communities; 
- increase their understanding of the aims and scope of the European
policy framework; 
- develop a firm ownership of the European policy language and concepts
related to social justice; 
- advance skills needed to confront various forms exclusion in public
service delivery; 
- gain skills necessary for the development of integrated policies; 
- develop better argumentation for their policy choices; 
- learn about specific experiences and policies from the regions that
may be applicable in their own communities; 
- join a professional network for experience sharing and further
cooperation; and 
- improve their capacity to access European and international support
for local development.

Workshop Materials: Participants will receive a binder with all
presentations, relevant background materials and publications. The
package presents basic concepts and terminology of social justice and
service delivery

Follow-up Activities: On a needs driven basis expert facilitators
provide post-training advising and coaching for alumni to adapt the new
knowledge and skills in diversity management to their work.

Contact Information: Angela Radosits, Program Coordinator, at:
aradosits@osi.hu . (Please indicate "MMCP training" in the subject line)


Application Information 

Go to: http://lgi.osi.hu/documents.php?id=1860 

Senior decision-makers in local governments and institutions of public
administration and officials from central and regional governments
involved in issues related to local service delivery (elected and
appointed) from Central and South East Europe are invited to apply. LGI
will select 24 participants based on their applications, according to
the following criteria:

Professional experience 
Previous and actual position in local government 
Advanced English language skills
LGI actively encourages the application of candidates associated with
the national secretariats of the Decade of Roma Inclusion and other
members of the Roma policy community.

Application materials: You are requested to send your application
on-line (http://lgi.osi.hu). Only completed applications will be
accepted.

Costs: LGI has secured full funding to support the participation of 20
individuals selected on a competitive basis. For these accepted
participants, LGI will cover their tuition and materials, accommodation,
meals and transportation (to and from Budapest) costs. In addition, 4
self-funded participants will be selected. These participants (or their
organizations) are expected to cover their travel expenses,
accommodation. Tuition fees are covered by LGI.


Important Information

All participants should arrive in Budapest on 12 February 2008 and
depart on 17 February 2008. The program starts with an opening dinner on
12 February 2008 at 19:00. The first workshop session starts on 13
February 2008 at 9:00. The last training session will finish on 16
February 2008. The certification and closing ceremony will take place at
the closing dinner from on 16 February 2008 from 19:00.  

Accepted candidates should confirm their participation within 7 days to
secure their funding from LGI. Angela Radosits, LGI Training Coordinator
E-mail: aradosits@osi.hu  

LGI is not able to re-fund any costs of those participants who did not
get their visa in time or who do not show up at the training for any
other unforeseen reasons. 

Therefore all selected participants who need the Hungarian visa are
expected to start to arrange their visa immediately after the
notification about the selection. Visa process may take up to 6 weeks
from certain countries and any delay in submitting a visa request may
prevent the participants to get a visa to Hungary.  

LGI-funded participants missing more than 2 training session will not be
eligible for travel cost reimbursement 

Participants missing more than 3 training sessions will not be eligible
for the end-of-course certificate of MMCP 

Only complete applications will be considered in the selection process 

Late submissions will not be considered in the selection process
 

Facilitators 

Petra Kovacs has been the director and a senior trainer of the Managing
Multiethnic Communities Program (MMCP) of LGI since 1997. Under her
leadership, MMCP has developed from a one-person project to a flagship
policy initiative and a major training institution focusing on public
management of ethnic diversity in transition countries.  Petra has 15
years of experience in adult-learning and consulting with special focus
on diversity-related topics. Petra has extensive international training
experience in CEE and SEE.  She has coached the adaptation of diversity
related training programs of the UNDP in Central Asia and the OSCE in
SEE. A renowned expert in developing, monitoring and evaluating of
European Social Fund (ESF) funded projects aiming at the social
inclusion of vulnerable groups, especially the Roma. As the founder of
the Working Group on Democratic Governance of Multiethnic Communities
within the Network of Schools of Public Administration (NISPAcee), she
actively advocates for the mainstreaming of diversity issues to the
curricula of schools of Public Administration in the Region.  Among
others Petra is the co-author and co-editor of the policy studies Who
Benefits? Ethnic bias in the local policy process (ELTE, 2004), Managing
Hatred and Distrust: The Prognosis for Post-Conflict Settlement in
Multiethnic Communities in the fYU (LGI, 2002), Diversity in Action:
Local Public Management of Multi-ethnic Communities in CEE (LGI, 1999).
She holds an MA from the ELTE-UNESCO Ethnic and Minority studies Program
and a DEA Degree in Public Policy from the University Paris I Pantheon
Sorbonne. She has a Ph.D. in Public Policy from ELTE University in
Budapest. 

Katalin Pallai is an independent expert of urban policy with 17 years of
field experience. During these years she assisted various governments,
local governments and international organizations in elaborating
comprehensive policy concepts and strategies. Her professional focus is
on public management and strategy, and her interest is focused on the
inter-relation and interdependence of different local policies and
actions. As a lead expert and chief planner of different policy and
development strategies, Katalin has steered the work of large groups of
experts from various fields. Her key expertise is the coordination of
the work on different fields of expertise and developing synthesis and
integrated strategies.

During the last 10 years, Katalin has designed and directed many
executive training and university courses on urban strategy and
management.. She has also been invited to lecture on topics related to
local government policies in various parts of the world and has also
published books and numerous articles on urban strategies and
management, on decentralization and local government reforms.

Katalin Pallai has PhD in Political Science, MA in Public Policy and
M.Sc. in Architecture and Urban Planning. For more information, see
http://www.pallai.hu.


About LGI and MMCP 

This workshop has been organized by the Local Government and Public
Service Reform Initiative of the Open Society Institute - Budapest.

LGI was launched in January 1997 by the Board of the Open Society
Institute Budapest. The primary mission of LGI is to foster such
cross-border cooperation and to support and disseminate potentially
important policy studies which have significant impact on policy
reform..

Policies that improve opportunities for vulnerable groups and the
management of social diversity are essential to the building of open
societies, and are thus integral to the work of LGI. LGI promotes such
policies through its Managing Multiethnic Communities Program (MMCP), a
major in-house initiative that supports good governance in diverse
communities through research-based advocacy, resource design and
dissemination, and skill-building and awareness-raising activities. MMCP
also encourages experience and knowledge sharing through the development
of "innovative practices," and supports global information and expert
networks.

This workshop is a project of the Managing Multiethnic Communities
Program. It aims to broaden the scope of inquiry from ethnic
heterogeneity to the management of all forms of social diversity. 

For more information: http://lgi.osi.hu or visit the MMCP homepage:
http://lgi.osi.hu/documents.php?m_id=104 or read about LGI's work on
diversity
management.

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