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Executive Summary
The Troodos Co-Laboratory was part of 10 Structured Dialogic Design Process (SDDP) Co_laboratories, which took place between December 2009 and February 2010 all over Cyprus in the context of Learning and Development Needs for Cypriot Local Authorities, and were implemented by Future Worlds Center.
The Troodos co-Laboratory was the last of the 10 and took place at the Forest Park (Platres, Troodos) between 16-17 February, 2010. Twenty four representatives of regional local authorities participated in the dialogue. Participants included both elected officials and employees of near-by local authorities.
The Knowledge Management Team included Mr. Savvas Savva, President of the Local Authorities Union of Limassol and Mr. Marios Michaelides, Vice-President of the Cyprus Academy of Public Administration, in addition to SDD Facilitators Aleco Christakis, Yiannis Laouris and Georgina Siitta Achilleos.
The same Triggering Question (TQ) was used for all SDDPs (except for one done for displaced local authorities):
- What influences the efficient operation of local authorities?
In response to the TQ, the 24 participants came up with 66 obstacles, which were categorized in 10 clusters. Following the voting process, 37 ideas received one or more votes, but only 23 ideas, that received 2 or more votes, were structured to create the influence MAP shown below.
According to the participants of the Troodos Co_Laboratotory, the obstacles with the greatest negative influence on the efficiency of local governance in Cyprus were:
- Idea #1, The long delays on the side of the government in taking decisions and
- Idea # 65, The fact that local authorities are not organized in larger complexes
The Co-Laboratory was facilitated by Aleco Christakis, Georgina Siitta Achilleos and Elena Aristodemou, with support from Yiannis Laouris and Marios Michaelides. The Co-Laboratory was also attended by Dimitris Diamantis Senior Manager at Information Technology Management Consultants (ITMC)[1], who is in charge of the Management Module of the overall project. In sum, the participants of the dialogue reported their satisfaction that their voices have been heard and documented and communicated their expectations for follow-up activities to address the diagnosis of their needs.
The full report can be downloaded from here
Sponsor and partners
The Cyprus Academy of Public Administration, operating under the jurisdiction of the Ministry of Finance was the sponsor of the project. The 10 structured dialogues were part of a larger project, co-funded by European Structural Funds (85%) and the Cyprus Government (15%) "Employment, Human Capital and Social Cohesion” 2007-2013, under Priority Axis1 Development of Human Resources and Adaptability" that aimed the improvement and advancement of the role and operation of the Cypriot local governance system. The overall project, titled Training and Development of Managerial and Leadership Abilities within Local Authority Organizations, has a value of about €2,5 million, it includes 7 modules, and has a duration of 54 months. It was launched on the 25th of September 2009. The long-term goal is to enhance the managerial and leadership abilities of those working in local authorities. The tender Learning and Development Needs for Cypriot Local Authorities, which included the 10 SDDPs, had a value of about €100,000.
The results will be used to guide the design and development of learning and training activities for members of Cypriot local authorities. Future modules also include visits to countries were best practices can be evaluated.
The tender was implemented by a consortium of three partners:
- Cyprus International Institute of Management (CIIM); as Coordinator
- Cyprus Neuroscience and Technology Institute (CNTI); in charge of the SDDPs
- Price Waterhouse Coopers (Cyprus) (PwC); in charge of the face-to-face interviews
Tender number: 4/2009; Contract number: 6/2009 For more information about the project, please visit Provision of Services for the Diagnosis of Learning and Development Needs for the Local Authorities of the Cyprus Republic.
External Links
- Download the full report here
- Visit the project's website here
- Visit Cyprus Academy of Public Administration website