The second half of the 2021-22 academic year was particularly successful for the School of Transnational Governance’s (STG) executive education programme. Courses in different formats and delivery modalities covered a variety of topics and policy areas. Examples include the launch of three new trainings: one on EU sanctions – a significant instrument of the Common Foreign and Security Policy, one on understanding and engaging with the European Commission, and one on innovative policy entrepreneurship. Additionally, the STG launched an online programme on digital platforms, an area of increasing importance for regulators and policy makers. Finally, two successful courses from previous years were repeated in 2022: one on negotiations across nations and one on High Quality Regulation.
The first ETGN Summer School co-organised with the OECD was one of the many highlights. Trainers and participants discussed emerging tools such as foresight and horizon scanning, regulatory sandboxes, GovTech solutions, Artificial Intelligence, policy co-creation, citizen engagement and more. This was the first joint activity organised under the ETGN umbrella. The European and Transnational Governance Network (ETGN) is a training and development partnership between seven European higher education and research institutions bringing together transnational perspectives to 21st century governance issues. An ETGN retreat in the EUI's Badia Fiesolana took place after the Summer School. The partners from the EUI, Hertie School, College of Europe (Bruges & Natolin), INSP - Institut national du service public, Central European University and SDA Bocconi, discussed joint action plans to take executive education to the next level.
"For the first time, we physically brought together the expertise of the ETGN network here in Florence. The summer school on agile governance was a great success in which we explored governance today and in the future. The subsequent retreat gave us the opportunity to meet our partners in person again and discuss common goals. We look forward to what comes next!" said George Papaconstantinou, Director of the STG Executive Education Programme.
Academic learning and practical case-studies
The STG also ran a series of tailored trainings in collaboration with national, European and international institutions. The “fit for purpose” tailored executive trainings help organisations upgrade their staff’s skills to address global policy challenges. In June, the first cohort of junior diplomats from the Western Balkans joined the STG for a training course funded by the Italian Ministry of Foreign Affairs and International Cooperation.
A peer training event organised with Eurocities was held alongside the 2022 State of the Union conference in Florence, bringing together mayors from major European cities such as Warsaw, Prague, Tallinn and Barcelona with EUI/ STG faculty to discuss crises management.
All courses combine academic learning with practical case-study sessions and skills sharing: "an empowering experience, like a cold shower followed by information and arguments, along with science and ways to act it out. An eye-opening approach that I would definitely recommend", said Nicu Dumitru, civic national organiser, who attended the course on inclusive leadership for sustainable governance which took place in July.
The STG’s interactive approach aims to cultivate debate and exchange on the most pressing policy issues between participants of different but complementary backgrounds from the public and private sector. “The course provided a comprehensive toolbox for designing communication campaigns on migration”, said Vaida Razaityte, communications advisor at Nordregio, who attended the training on migration communications strategies conducted in May with the EUI’s Migration Policy Centre. “A diverse group of participants created an additional value to the course debate. Happy to be part of it and integrate some new learnings as well as new contacts to my future work.”
Executive trainings beyond borders
In 2022, new initiatives literally took STG executive education beyond borders. Together with Universidad de los Andes, the School launched Open to Health (O2H), a university-based training network supported by the Open Society University Network (OSUN). O2H provides executive training in health governance and crisis resilience to health policy professionals, with a focus on low- and middle-income countries. The first cohort, with 21 participants based in Latin America, Africa and Europe, started in June.
In July, 25 experts from seven different African countries participated in an interactive face-to-face training on frameworks for effective transnational governance of African migration and mobility. The course was held in Uganda’s capital city Kampala in collaboration with the Migration Policy Centre.
STG executive education activities will resume in September 2022 as the new academic year begins. The programme already includes exciting courses with internal and external experts on gender and diversity, sustainable finance and the EU Recovery Plan and National Recovery and Resilience Plans. Take a look at the course catalogue and stay tuned!