Course Topics
The first module will address the following topics: - Key concepts of project management, project characteristics, and typologies - The project lifecycle and the relevance of projects in the public sector - Specificities of public sector projects: budgetary constraints and administrative complexity - Alternative development paradigms: complex issues in sustainability, equity, and systemic change - Addressing wicked problems and societal challenges through projects and programs - Project ideation, design, and planning: objective setting, work breakdown, and logical frameworks - Stakeholder and user engagement: mapping, managing, and involving stakeholders and end-users - The many roles of the project manager: leadership skills and team coordination - Risk and change management: identifying risks, managing change, and adapting to uncertainty - Scope, time, and budget control: managing deliverables, timelines, and public resources efficiently - Monitoring, evaluation, and learning: tools for tracking, assessing, and improving project performance - Real and simulated project work, with input from local stakeholders The second module will address the following topics: - Introduction to Design Thinking - Empathy: Understanding User Needs in Public Services - Ideation: Generating Innovative Policy Solutions - Prototyping: Developing Tangible Policy Models - Testing: Assessing Solutions in Real-World Public Sector Contexts - Implementing Design Thinking in Public Administration - Sustainability in Design: Environmental and Social Considerations

Teaching format
The course combines frontal lectures, interactive discussions, case studies, and hands-on group work. Students will work in teams on a real-world challenge provided by local stakeholders, developing solutions that will be presented to stakeholders and policymakers at the end of the course. Guest seminars and workshops with practitioners from the public and Third Sector will enrich the learning experience.

Educational objectives
Knowledge and understanding The student will acquire legal knowledge necessary for the training of senior public sector professionals, capable of understanding and managing the dynamics and relationships within public bodies and local, national and supranational administrations. This knowledge is essential to enable students to successfully take part in public competitions. The student will acquire the targeted knowledge of techniques and analytical tools necessary to understand and interpret in a quantitative manner economic and business phenomena related to public administration in order to support decision-making and management processes. The student will acquire knowledge of statistical inference, linear models and their generalisations will be consolidated. Knowledge of the management of the main IT systems useful for analysing, interpreting, visualising and communicating data, commonly used in public administrations, will also be acquired. The student will acquire knowledge of organisational models, the business factors involved in the organisation of public enterprises, operating in different sectors (international organisations, central administrations, local authorities, health, public enterprises) and the consequences for the community. The student will also acquire knowledge necessary for developing, managing and evaluating the impact of public projects, and knowledge useful for analysing organisational innovation processes and interpreting current tools and trends relating to personnel management in public companies." Ability to apply knowledge and understanding The student will acquire the ability to: - identify and distinguish management concepts and problems in relation to real or hypothetical situations concerning public institutions and companies also in different contexts (e.g. different services/activities/institutions, different local or international institutional levels); - develop and administer projects from the design phase to the operational execution phases, including the assessment of their impact on society, the economy and the environment. Autonomy of judgement The student will acquire the ability to: - apply acquired knowledge to interpret economic and business phenomena in order to make directional and operational decisions in the context of public administration; - select data and use appropriate information to describe a problem concerning the design, implementation and evaluation of public sector projects and policies, aiming at innovation and improvement of processes, products and results; - reflect, also from a public ethics and sustainability perspective with regard to future generations, on the responsibilities associated with the use of public resources. Communication skills The student will acquire the ability to communicate effectively in oral and written form the specialised content of individual disciplines, using different registers according to target audience and communicative and didactic purposes, as well as to evaluate the formative effects of his/her communication. Learning skills The student will acquire the ability to: - use information technology autonomously to carry out bibliographic research and investigations and for one's own training and updating; - identify thematic links and establish relationships between different cases and contexts of analysis; - frame a new problem systematically and generate appropriate taxonomies; - develop general models from the phenomena studied.

Assessment
For Attending Students 1. Group Project Work and Presentation (50%) Students will collaborate in small groups to design a project based on a real or simulated challenge proposed by local stakeholders. Each group will present its work during a scheduled class session, including a session with the main stakeholders. Deliverables include: A slide presentation and a summary report (both based on provided templates that will be available on OLE). These materials must be submitted 15 days before the final presentation. The project grade reflects the collective effort of the group. To discourage free-riding, each group is encouraged to submit a shared statement confirming that all members actively contributed to the final deliverables. The project work grade is valid for one academic year only and cannot be carried over beyond that period. 2. Individual Written Exam (50%) This exam will consist of multiple-choice questions and open-ended questions. The content will cover lectures, guest lectures, and assigned readings. For Non-Attending Students Written Exam (100%) The exam will include: - Questions covering course content - An additional short essay question designed to critically reflect on and compensate for the practical experience gained by attending students through project work. Important Notes: The assessment structure is the same for both Module 1 and Module 2. This means that students who attend lectures in both modules are required to complete a group project and sit a final written exam for each module. Students who do not attend either module will instead take two written exams—one for each module—and will not participate in any group project work. In cases where a student attends one module but not the other, they will complete the group project for the module they attended and take written exams for both modules.

Evaluation criteria
Evaluation will be based on the following criteria: Group Project Work Module 1 Clarity and Originality of the proposed solutions and project objectives Feasibility of the project plan, including objectives and implementation strategies Stakeholder Analysis and Engagement: Identification of key stakeholders and effectiveness of engagement strategies Project Scheduling: Logical and achievable timeline for project activities Budget Planning: Appropriateness and accuracy of the financial plan Risk Management: Identification of potential risks and proposed mitigation strategies Module 2 Empathy and User Understanding: Depth of research and insight into user needs, especially in public service contexts Ideation: Creativity and relevance of proposed policy or service innovations Prototyping: Development of tangible models or frameworks to test ideas Testing and Feedback: Use of real-world or simulated environments to assess solution effectiveness Sustainability Considerations: Integration of environmental and social sustainability into the project design Implementation Strategy: Practicality and adaptability of applying design thinking in public administration settings Individual Written Exam The exam will assess each student's understanding and ability to apply concepts from : Module 1 Project Management Principles: Knowledge of core methodologies and tools Module 2 Design Thinking Concepts: Understanding of empathy, ideation, prototyping, testing, and implementation Module 1 & Module 2 Application to Public Sector Challenges: Ability to connect theory to real-world policy and service design Critical Thinking and Reflexivity: Capacity to reflect on learning and evaluate the effectiveness of applied approaches Integration of Sustainability: Awareness of environmental and social impacts in project and policy design