The sixth generation of Fellows within the European Fund for the Balkans “Fellowship Programme for Young Government Officials from the Western Balkans: Supporting Excellence and Leadership in Governance” gathered for the Introductory Seminar which is taking place in Potsdam (Germany) in the period between April 4 to April 12, 2014.
The eight-day introductory seminar will offer the participants a cutting-edge knowledge of the administrative and political developments and dynamics. The fellows will have the chance to discuss their plans for their fellowship, receive individual advice, present their professional and personal goals and prepare themselves for the fellowship programme.
In conducting the seminar, for six years in a row the European Fund for the Balkans combines forces with the "Potsdam Center for Policy and Management" (PCPM) at the University of Potsdam, one of the leading competence centres for governance and the public sector in Germany. PCPM’s contribution to the seminar aims to help the fellows to a “good start” into their fellowship by providing settings, atmospheres and opportunities for the fellows to get to know each other and others in order to build teams and act as a group altogether.
All the sessions are aimed at strengthening the capacity of the participants in the field of leadership, team-working and communication skills through multi-approach tools and a supportive learning environment.
The introductory seminar will also serve as a platform for discussions on current political and social challenges with prominent lecturers and researchers, who are prepared to share their expertise.
Each seminar day has an overall theme focussing either on skills or knowledge transfer. The knowledge-based part of the programme will review topics mainly from the perspective of the seminar’s host country, yet include a level of analysis that aims beyond just the “German case”. Participants will be introduced to complex public management challenges like performance management and public administration reform and to approaches from academia and practice to address them effectively.
The skills training sessions in this seminar focus on presentation skills, employing the Fellows individual presentations as “practice cases”. Other workshop sessions will introduce Change Management and Leadership.
Beyond the actual seminar, the course programme will provide opportunities to get to know Potsdam, for socialising and for exchange in order to enrich the intercultural experience and to broaden the learning process.
