The State Chancellery of the Republic of Latvia and the RCPAR organised the 6th Annual Public Management Summer Institute, “Policy planning: necessity, institutional framework and tools” in Jurmala, Latvia in the period 23-27 August 2010. Selected on a competitive basis from a pool of more than 80 applicants, 35 professionals from 13 countries and entities in the region participated, attending workshops and lectures presented by more than a dozen distinguished academics and practitioners, from the region, Western Europe and the US. The event received additional support from the Embassies of Norway, the Netherlands and the United States in Latvia, and the National Audit Office of Finland.

The overall aim of the Summer Institute was to strengthen the expertise of public sector managers in the region by addressing the following questions: why plan? how and when to plan? plan for what? and by looking at conditions which need to be in place to ensure successful implementation, monitoring and evaluation of plans. The intended outcome of the event was to improve the knowledge and skills of mid- and high level civil servants, academics and representatives of non-governmental organizations (NGOs) from the  region in policy planning, with particular emphasis on the relevance of policy planning in the context of economic downturn, stagnation and uncertainty regarding the future. Additional desired outcomes were to increase the participants' motivation for change, and to strengthen professional networking and sharing of experiences and best practices between mid- and high level civil servants and leading academics in the region.

For the first time, the Summer Institute was conducted in two languages, English and Russian, and simultaneous translation was provided in all sessions. For more information, see agenda, list of participants, bio notes of presenters, logistical note, initial event announcement, and concept note.

An evaluation was conducted at the end of the event, and the analysis of the results of the evaluation, as well as the final report of the Summer Institute 2010, will be forthcoming.

Presentations

• Crisis Planning – Lessons from Russia and other countries in the region by Mr. Mikhail Dmitriev (Russia), President of the “Center for Strategic Research”, Moscow, Russia.
  
  
• How good budgeting and strategic policy planning can enhance economic growth and success by Mr. Tuomas Poysti (Finland), Auditor-General of Finland, and President of the National Audit Office of Finland  and Ms. Tanja Tanayama (Finland), Director and Deputy Head of the Executive Management Support at the National Audit Office of Finland. 
  
  
• Professional policy development – experience from Western Balkan countries by Mr. Svein Eriksen (Norway), Senior Advisor at the Agency of Public Management and e-Government (Difi), Oslo, Norway.
  
  
• Policy Planning in the Centre of Government: Recent Trends by Ms. Michal Ben-Gera (Israel/Canada), international freelance consultant in governance and public administration.
  
  
• Policy Planning and New Institutional Capabilities by Mr. William Burke-White (USA), Member of the State Secretary‟s Policy Planning Staff (on leave), Professor at the School of Law, University of Pennsylvania, USA.
  
  
• Long-term Planning: Why? How? by Ms. Baiba Petersone (Latvia), Deputy Director of the Latvian State Chancellery in Public Administration and Policy Co-ordination Affairs.
  
  
• Long term and operational planning by Mr. Dragos Dinu (Romania), freelance consultant, Public Sector Coordinator at the Romanian Center for European Policies, Bucharest, Romania.  
  
  
• Crisis Planning – The case of Greece by Ms. Maria Karaklioumi (Greece), Secretary of the Press and Media Department of the Greek Socialist Party (PASOK).
  
  
• (Links Between) Policy, Planning and Budgeting by Mr. Jan Marusinec (Slovakia), international freelance consultant in public financial management, Senior Analyst, M.E.S.A 10, Bratislava, Slovakia.
  
  
• Performance Management: Planning & Budgeting by Mr. Alexander Kovalevskyi (Russia), Deputy Director at the Center for Fiscal Policy in Moscow, Russia.  
  
  
• Characteristics of Policy Makers in the Context of Public Policy and Planning Formulation by Ms. Katja Michalak  (Germany), Reader and Associate Professor of the Department of Public Management and Governance at Zeppelin University, Germany.
  
  
• Toward a Political Economy of Fiscal and Social Solvency, by Mr. Jeffrey Sommers (USA), Associate Professor, University of Wisconsin - Milwaukee, USA, and Visiting Faculty, Stockholm Scool of Economics in Riga, Latvia.
  
  
• Policyplanning, Institutions, Internationalisation, by Mr. Theo Toonen (Netherlands), Dean of the Faculty of Technology, Policy and Management of the Delft University of Technology, the Netherlands.
  
  
• The Two Futures of Public Administration, by Mr. Guy Peters (USA), Maurice Falk Professor of American Government, University of Pittsburgh, USA, and Distinguished Professor of Comparative Governance at Zeppelin University, Germany.