MINELRES: CfA: Executive workshop: Serving the Public: Responding to Challenges of Promoting Social Justice through Local Public Service Delivery in Wider Europe, Budapest, 24-29 November 2007

[minelres@lists.microlink.lv]

Original sender: Petra Kovacs <kovacsp@osi.hu>


CALL FOR APPLICATIONS

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

Executive Workshop

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

Budapest, Hungary
24-29 November 2007

Deadline for Application: 20 October 2007
Notification of Selection: 26 October 2007
 

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 local 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.

The workshop will be conducted in English.

For more information:

Contact: Angela Radosits, Program Coordinator, at: aradosits@osi.hu 
(Please  indicate �Social Justice training� in the subject line)
Visit: http://lgi.osi.hu (See �Events�)

Application and Selection Procedures: 

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: Application materials can be downloaded from the
web (http://lgi.osi.hu) or by contacting Angela Radosits, Program
Coordinator, at: aradosits@osi.hu. Documents should be received by email
by 22 October 2007. Only completed applications will be accepted.
Applicants will be informed about the results of selection by Friday,
October 26.

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:

1. All participants should arrive in Budapest on 24 November 2007 and
depart on 29 November 2007. The program starts with an opening dinner on
24 November 2007at 19:00. The first workshop session starts on 25
November 2007 at 9:00. The last training session will finish at 17:00 on
28 November 2007. The certification and closing ceremony will take place
at the closing dinner from on 28 November 2007 from 19:00. 

2. Accepted candidates should confirm their participation by November 4
to secure their funding from LGI.
Angela Radosits, LGI Training Coordinator
E-mail: aradosits@osi.hu  

3. 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.

4. 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 4 weeks
from certain countries and any delay in submitting a visa request may
prevent the participants to get a visa to Hungary.  

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

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

7. Only complete applications will be considered in the selection
process

8. Late submissions will not be considered in the selection process

Additional Information:

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

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.

Expert 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 and social 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). 

Petra Kovacs has a Ph.D. in Public Policy from ELTE University in
Budapest. 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 BA degree in Economics from
University of Economics, 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 

This workshop has been organized by the Local Government and Public
Service Reform Initiative (LGI). 

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. 
 
For more information: http://lgi.osi.hu


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