• Programme
• Benefits
• Programme Outline
• Key Features

Key Features

A Challenging Programme

New Perspective on Problem Solving:

Many problems remain unresolved not because of a lack of appropriate knowledge or skills of the officials tasked with resolving them, but because often the problems are inappropriately defined. The programme will specifically address this issue, and will equip participants with skills to enable them to reframe issues, and by doing so, gain new insights into more productive ways of tackling problems generally. This will also involve examining processes for effective management of change in political environments, and for tackling challenges in more productive ways.

In order to get the most out of the programme and, in particular, to work effectively on their individual problems and challenges, participants will be exposed to:

Highly interactive classroom sessions:

The programme will employ highly interactive and "user-friendly" teaching methods, with detailed discussions of Case Studies and simulations in which participants assume roles. Syndicate/break-out groups:

The programme is designed to be highly collaborative, drawing on shared experiences and collective understanding in mentored syndicate and breakout groups. Participants will work on their challenges in smaller groups to ensure everyone gets the benefit of inputs from other participants.

Access to Hands-On Experience/Case Studies:

Participants will be able to have direct contact with small countries practitioners, who will illustrate using "real life" examples where best practice has been developed. By doing so, participants will gain valuable insights into actual problems faced by small countries and be able to evaluate the solutions generated, together with the officials involved. This information will be captured by rapporteurs and developed into printed and electronic materials, which, along with other insights from the programme, can be shared more broadly.

Development of Key Negotiation Skills:

An important element of the programme will be the acquisition of negotiation skills based on the world renowned Oxford Programme on Negotiation which offers participants the opportunity to acquire advanced negotiation and mediation techniques. Negotiation skills will be placed in relevant context for negotiations within government and with bilateral and multilateral bodies, through the appropriate choice of simulations and role-plays. As the final part of the programme, this will give the participants an active delivery plan for whatever they have developed in terms of new approaches to their challenges.