Summer School - Swedish Institute Summer Academy for Young Professionals, 13–24 June 2016, Malmö University, Sweden

The Swedish Institute invites young professionals to apply to the SI Summer Academy for Young Professionals (SAYP) 2016, a two-week thematic module on sustainable public management. The programme will be held in the Swedish city of Malmö.

SAYP 2016 will take place 13–24 June 2016 and is organised by SI and Malmö University. SAYP is a training programme developed to build new networks, knowledge and practices for increased transparency, efficiency and resilience in public administration in the countries in the Baltic Sea region and the EU Eastern Partnership countries. The programme also aims to strengthen young professionals and their individual capabilities to meet the requirements of a modern governance structure.

The application period for SAYP 2016 is 4–31 January 2016.

Who can apply?

The programme is targeted primarily at young professionals (up to 35 years old) already employed in the state structures, working with development of policy and measures to create a more transparent, resilient and efficient public administration. Applicants may preferably work within financial management/control and audit services, but may also work in other parts of the administration.

In 2016, we are focusing on young professionals from these groups:

• Policymakers (politicians, government officials, employees of political parties)
• Public servants (non-political civil servants working at government agencies)
• Civil society workers (CSO/NGO volunteers/employees)

A general requirement for any applicant is a good command of English language (the degree of proficiency should be specified in the CV) and a relevant education, consisting of at least three years of previous studies.

Practical details

Participation in the programme is offered free of charge and includes, meals, accommodation and travel expenses to Sweden. Some minor expenses may be expected during the stay in Sweden, depending on what the participants choose to do in their spare time and during the free days in the weekend.

How to apply?

The application is made electronically, using the SI online application portal. You need to go through the following steps in order to apply for participation in SAYP 2016:

1. Prepare your Motivation letter according to the SI template. Motivation letters in any other templates or formats are NOT valid. Make sure to read the questions in the Motivation Letter thoroughly and be specific and personal in your reasoning. Without exception, answers may not exceed the allowed number of characters (letters and spaces) for each question.
2. Prepare your Curriculum Vitae (CV) in the Europass format of maximum 3 pages. A CV submitted in any other format than the Europass is NOT valid. Additional pages will be disregarded.
3. Prepare a Letter of Reference according to the SI template. Remember that a letter of reference that is not signed is NOT valid.
4. Apply using the SI online application portal and attach the necessary enclosures. The link to the application portal will be available on this page during the application period 4–31 January 2016. Remember that an application that has not been submitted within this period will not be taken into consideration.

Key dates and deadlines for SAYP 2016

• 4–31 January 2016: Application period
• Beginning of March 2016: Successful candidates are confirmed for participation
• 13–24 June 2016: Main two-week thematic module, held at Malmö University
• October–November 2016: Evaluation and next step
• November 2016 – January 2017: Preliminary local follow-up workshops arranged together with the SI Alumni Network and the SAYP module organisers

Programme outline

Module title: Sustainable Public Management

Malmö University 13–24 June 2016

The course Sustainable Public Management aims to strengthen young professionals in their work to create a more transparent, resilient and efficient public administration in the participants’ countries. The course consists of two parallel tracks.

The first track is structured thematically and will cover topics such as: public management, governance, transparency, leadership, gender equality and public ethics. Each topic is introduced by a lecture, followed up by a group seminar, and completed with a practically oriented seminar with representatives from a Swedish governmental agency. The idea is to within each theme move from a theoretical and research perspective to a more practical and tool-oriented discussion. The Swedish cases presented at the seminars will serve as examples for discussions on issues pertinent to all public servants, regardless of cultural or organisational context.

The second track is oriented towards project management and group work. Throughout the course, each participant will participate in a multinational group exercise, working with specific tasks in order to facilitate mutual learning processes. Specific focus will be directed towards cross-sector collaboration and social and public innovation. At the end of the course, each project group will present a project connecting to one or several themes of the course. The group work will be facilitated by a series of lectures on project management with focus on cross-sector collaboration and social and public innovation.

After finishing the course, the participants should be able to:

• discuss and understand the values of sustainable public management, especially concerning the role of management in governance structures and in promoting change;
• make relevant value judgements within the public sphere, such as equality, transparency and public ethos;
• formulate a project aimed at cross-sectorial collaboration and social- and public innovation within set timeframes and, as a part of a team, prepare and present this project;
• use their specific skills and knowledge to contribute to a process of mutual learning; and
• discuss effects of bad governance and present practices of how bad governance can be countered.

Through SAYP, the participants will be able to expand their own contact networks and share ideas, experiences and challenges. The participants may also take part in follow-ups and thematic workshops afterwards, as fellows of the Swedish Institute Alumni Network – a vast professional and global contact network meant to keep building good practice and underpin mutual learning processes for a sustainable future.

For more information, please visit the Malmö University thematic module website.
Contact at Malmö University: Tom Nilsson, tom.nilsson(at)mah.se
Read more about Malmö University here.

Contacts at SI

• Markus Boman, markus.boman(at)si.se
• Mikael Olsson, mikael.olsson(at)si.se
• Madeleine Mattsson, madeleine.mattsson(at)si.se

This opportunity has expired. It was originally published here:

https://eng.si.se/areas-of-operation/scholarships-and-grants/visby-programme/si-summer-academy-for-young-professionals/si-summer-academy-for-young-professionals-sayp-2016-call-for-applications/