The Intergovernmental Fiscal Relations and Local Financial Management course will start with eight distance learning modules introducing participants to the principles and legal framework of decentralisation, expenditure and revenue assignment and intergovernmental transfer. The two-week workshop style course will include an advanced discussion and analysis through exercises and case studies from the region, in the following areas: 1) worldwide trends in fiscal decentralization and the concept and practice of the assignment of expenditure responsibilities and revenue authority; 2) the design of various forms of central to sub-national transfers and local own-source revenues; creditworthiness and the financial risks of local authorities; and 3) the emerging topic of budgeting and local public management.

Application deadline for this course: December 18, 2008.
 
The course on Public Management of Urban Change in Transitional Cities will review the theoretical underpinnings of current urban policy, planning and management practices and provide course participants with a broad range of international case studies and practices that reflect the current state of the discipline. The course's geographical relevance will be broader than Central and Eastern Europe and will help young faculty and practitioners to better understand challenges faced by public policymakers and managers, NGOs and the private sector in rapidly changing urban environments. The dual focus on theory and practice will be particularly useful for participants developing their research agendas.
 
Application deadline for this course: February 16, 2009

For further information on the courses, please see the below website. Participants can apply online for both courses starting from mid-November.

Additional information: