General description
The quality of the Executive MPA programme is rooted in two principles: interdisciplinarity and practical application. The programme combines economics and social sciences to further students' understanding of complex governance challenges and management solutions. The participants work on international case studies and discuss phenomena against the background of their own work experience. Experts from all sectors regularly share current issues and discuss challenges and possible solutions with the students.
The flexibility of both time frame and content enables each student to adapt the programme to his or her individual needs. The programme offers professionals both sound theoretical knowledge and hands-on management skills, using modern teaching methods.
Participants choose their own area of concentration and can decide whether they wish to complete the programme full-time or part-time (i.e. in one year or in two years). In total, 46 days of attendance are required and 60 ECTS credits are acquired (both in the one-year as well as in the two year programme). Upon successful completion of the Executive Master Programme, the academic degree "Master of Public Administration (MPA)" is awarded.
Compulsory
Compulsory module – 9 days and 10 ECTS total
The contemporary state and public policy-making are undergoing profound changes: New forms of regulation and governance are emerging, and a variety of actors contribute to this process. Networks, forms of cooperation, and partnerships are developing at different political levels among the three sectors – the state, business and civil society. Traditional forms of (hierarchical) 'government' are losing significance, and new forms of (horizontal) political regulation and policy-making are emerging: 'governance' – with and without government. At the same time, not only states in Europe but also stakeholders from civil society and the private sector are embedded in the European Union. Shaping governance and explaining public policy are impossible without understanding the actors, institutions and processes behind the making of public policy. Comprehending the potential and limitations of governance is equally important.
In “Governance and public policy”, students foster their ability to analyse, understand and explain the challenges of modern governance and 21st century policy-making. Students will be introduced to academic debates, theoretical arguments and methodological approaches from an interdisciplinary perspective. They will understand how collectively binding decisions are made, contested and influenced across sectors and levels of governance.
Introductory course:
- Governance and public policy in the 21st century: key debates
In addition, participants choose 3 of the following courses:
- Policymaking: actors, institutions and processes
- Bureaucracies and evidence-based policymaking
- Designing, leading and growing organisations
- Economics for policy-makers
- European Union governance
Compulsory module – 9 days and 9 ECTS total
This module gives students an overview of the key challenges faced in modern management, leadership and decision-making. It trains students’ ability to cope with these issues in a future leadership role. Focusing on both underlying theories, main concepts and methodological tools, the module introduces students to the practicability and the pitfalls of central methods and reforms in the context of public administration in general and of financial management in particular. Students must also face questions of ethics, judgements and self-reflection in leadership; they must confront the implications of data consumption and visualise it in an informed and competent way.
Upon successful completion of the module, students will have gained the ability to understand and use key management tools. They will have honed their diagnostic, ethical and judgement skills in leadership; grasped how budgets are drafted, evaluated, negotiated and used to achieve certain political goals; and addressed one of the key challenges of decision-making in this day and age – how to trust the numbers, data and quantitative results put before them.
Participants choose 3 of the following courses:
- Strategic and performance management
- Power and influence: leadership in action
- Budgeting and priority-setting in government
- When to trust the numbers: informed data consumption
Concentrations
Concentration and complement – 15 days and 15 ECTS total
This concentration deepens students´ knowledge particularly in the various aspects of intra-organisational management and leadership in social and public innovation processes. Students will build on their critical understanding of management tools and apply these to more specific challenges, such as human resource management and the management of organisational change. To complement these topics, students will delve into how innovation works and is led in both society and the public sector.
Participants choose a total of three courses from their area of concentration as well as two courses from any other area of concentration as complements. Seminars may include but are not limited to:
- Performance management
- People management
- Managing organisational change
- Public sector innovation
- Social innovation and entrepreneurship
Concentration and complement – 15 days and 15 ECTS total
This concentration introduces students to the challenges posed on the one hand by rapid digitalisation of and across industries and on the other hand by the much slower pace at which public administration and regulatory agencies adapt. In particular, courses in this module will look at drivers, channels and consequences of digital transformation at the intersection of government, business, civil society and users. Students will learn about methods for building robust analytical capacities in order to assess the impact of digitalisation. They will be exposed to key debates regarding the potential and caveats of collecting and analysing data via digitalisation and artificial intelligence in public administration and beyond.
Upon completion of the module, students will have acquired an in-depth understanding of the impact of digital transformation on public administration and political decision-making. In turn, students will have gained the tools that decision-makers and regulators need to apply means of digitalisation and shape policy debates accordingly.
Participants choose a total of three courses from their area of concentration as well as two courses from any other area of concentration as complements. Seminars may include but are not limited to:
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- Digital governance
- Digital rights and security
- Open data and digital state capacity
- Technology policy and digital transformation
- Artificial intelligence for decision-makers
Concentration and complement – 15 days and 15 ECTS total
This concentration brings students face-to-face with issues arising from policy and governance that can only be adequately addressed at the global level. These problems are studied against the backdrop of geopolitical shifts, rapid technological development, environmental and democratic crises and the contestation of the global order. Students will draw on their understanding of governance beyond the state, economic constraints and management tools in order to assess potential solutions to the problems of global governance. Upon successful completion of the module, students will have grasped the key conceptual and policy frameworks necessary to evaluate recent global governance responses (or lack thereof) as well as their effectiveness.
Participants choose a total of three courses from their area of concentration as well as two courses from any other area of concentration as complements. Seminars may include but are not limited to:
- Conflict prevention and crisis management
- Global regulatory power
- Good governance and anti-corruption
- Sustainability
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Compulsory trainings – 4 days and 4 ECTS total
The Skills for impact module aims at fostering participants’ professional development by conveying skills, tools and analytical perspectives as well as offering opportunities to learn about governance challenges and reflect on the application of skills in a specific institutional context.
The skills courses put practical application centre-stage and aim to strengthen students’ soft competences. Students choose two skills courses out of a selection that may include but is not limited to: negotiation and mediation, policy writing, political communication and scenario-building. The objective is to equip students with interpersonal or transferable skills that fit their lifelong learning aspirations.
Participants choose at least 2 courses of the following:
- Monitoring and evaluation
- Negotiation and mediation
- Policy-writing for impact
- Political communication
- Data skills
- Scenario-building and foresight
Compulsory workshops – 4 days and 3 ECTS total
Participants choose at least one of the following workshops:
- The workshop in Brussels offers students the opportunity to experience the EU’s institutions and decision-makers first-hand, in interaction with Brussels-based policy-makers and practitioners. The workshop helps participants develop strategies and approaches for dealing with the EU’s institutions, preparing professionals for positions with a strong European dimension.
- The workshop in London offers students the opportunity to experience the workings of public management in the UK first-hand, with a particular focus on London-based ministries and agencies. Upon successful completion of this course, participants will be able to analyse good practice in the development of Anglo-Saxon management and to reflect critically upon its applicability to other – in particular continental European – administrative cultures.
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Master’s thesis project – 19 ECTS
In their master’s theses, students demonstrate their ability to carry out an independent research project and are able to apply their theoretical knowledge and analytical skills to an issue of practical relevance. With the academic expertise and skills acquired in previous courses, students analyse a real-life problem from a professional or policy context and propose possible solutions. Collaboration with a governance, public policy or public management institution as a practice partner is encouraged.
Participants of the one-year programme are expected to present their master’s thesis proposals during their 2nd semester, whereas participants of the two-year programme will do so during their 4th semester. By this time, students will have identified both an institutional partner for collaboration (if applicable) and a faculty member as their thesis advisor.