Smart Decisions in Government

16-18 February 2012

The ability to make effective decisions, design comprehensible decision processes and to understand and manage risk on issues in energy, infrastructure, health, education and other policy fields is a crucial skill for civil servants and public managers. In this course, participants learn how to establish priorities, make effective use of resources, manage risks and uncertainty, deal with conflicting objectives, and how to gain committment by including all stakeholders.

The course cuts across several of the most important decision areas which public managers face: allocate scarce program budgets in different policy areas; make trade-offs between economic, ecologic and social objectives; transparently select contractors in public tenders; develop recommendations for siting decisions; communicate health or environmental risks to the public.

After having completed this course, participants will have learned applicable frameworks to structure complex decisions. They will have gained hands-on experience with relevant tools to aid resource allocation and option evaluation, and they will have understood issues in strategy development approaches that can result in smarter decisions and enhance performance of their organisation.

Convenor