Interdisciplinary short cycle programs in public policy making and analysis

Comprehensive public administration reform, including a policy-making component, has been launched in 2014. A problem is that there are no study programs in Serbia covering the entire spectrum of areas necessary for a quality public policy work. There is a need for boosting analytical capacities within the public sector, especially on the Government level which has been underlined in the most important policy documents. Main aims of the project are design and implementation of a dozen of cross-disciplinary local short cycle programs / modules in public policy at universities in Serbia including curriculum development. Capacity-building for universities and other stakeholders in public, think tanks and private sector in order to be able to manage and deliver a contemporary (EU standards level) courses for postgraduate students and practitioners within a Long life learning platform. Training of public administration staff (civil servants) and other participants in policy making to become agents of change in modernized public service focused on citizen. The intention is to use the project to design curriculum, build local capacity in Serbia, accredit programs and conduct two years of jointly held courses with EU institutions. The aim is to recruit among students as much as possible interested and talented civil servants and public sector employees who are working on positions related to policy implementation and policy making. As a result, around 20 courses will be prepared and implemented and two generations of students will be trained. Textbooks for all the courses will be published. The short cycle programmes will be developed into a master degree programme in public policy in due course. A community of practice consisting of professionalsf rom the region (community pool) will be established. The impact envisaged are more efficient economic and social outcomes of public policies at all levels of government.