The Ecorys Academy has developed several new training programmes alongside our selection of highly successful, established courses. We are delighted and proud to announce these new and existing courses in this edition of our newsletter.

Please follow the links to more information about the courses:

1. Second edition Intensive summer Course Structural Funds
2. Workshop strategic scenario analysis: be future proof! Public Private Partnerships
3. How to write a winning proposal for the educational sector?
4. Mirt and OEI training for Dutch governmental organisations
5. Training on effective policy/programme formulation
6. Master class in Cost/Benefit Analysis of EU funded projects
7. Training on the evaluation of acts and regulations
8. Smart and efficient project delivery through Public Private Partnerships
9. Master class in European Effectiveness
10. Reliable economising in crisis time
11. Forthcoming courses

1. Second edition Intensive Summer School Structural Funds
The second edition of the intensive Summer School on Structural Funds is scheduled to take blace from 5-9 September 2011. This training course is based on the immense experience the Ecorys Academy has developed in providing Structural Funds and IPA training courses since 2001. This course has been designed for government officials from regional and central governments of the new member states involved in Structural Funds and (potential) candidate member states involved in the management of IPA. The training course combines seven modules, each with practical sessions and exercises. Themes covered include, among others, Strategic Planning and Programming, Implementation and Absorption Capacity, Financial Management, Monitoring and Evaluation and a special assignment in which the participants formulate their own project proposal.
A brochure can be found at: http://www.ecorysacademy.com/intensive-summer-course-on-structural-funds/intensive-summer-course-on-structural.html.

To register for this course, please use our webform. Early bird applications will receive a discount of 10% if the application is submitted before 1 July 2011. Important! Participation costs can be covered under the Technical Assistance budget (Structural Funds/IPA)!

What participants said about the first Intensive Summer School:
“Finally I understand the whole picture concerning IPA, done in an enthusiastic and interactive way”, Croatian participant
“Directly after this brilliant course I wrote my first and successful proposal, thank you Ecorys Academy”, Bulgarian participant

2. Be Future Proof! Workshop strategic scenario analysis

Ecorys Academy is organising a workshop on strategic scenario analysis. In this workshop you will explore 'the futures' of your organisation and the world around your organisation. These futures, based on out of the box thinking, form the basis for your future policy decisions. With the help of action learning, before you know it, you'll be the expert in thinking and acting ahead. Ecorys Academy has successfully delivered this workshop in over 15 countries for different companies and institutions, with the key message: ‘make your organisation future proof!’

The workshop will be offered in-company only, because it is important that the participants have comparable professional backgrounds. For more information, please contact us at This e-mail address is being protected from spam bots, you need JavaScript enabled to view it .

3. How to write a winning proposal for the educational sector?
Criteria for selection and awarding, eligible costs, dealing with the logical framework matrix, working out a budget, co-financing, consortium agreements or letters of endorsement, financial identification forms, legal entity forms, sworn statements. Common terms and elements in many of the education and training programs offered by, among others, the European commission.

Programs such as Erasmus (for higher education), Leonardo da Vinci (for Vocational Education), Comenius (school education; pre-school to secondary education), Grundtvig (adult education), Tempus (Higher Education) and Jean Monnet (understanding European Integration), offer fantastic opportunities for students, staff and education institutions: such as mobility for staff and students, the joint development of education programs, the exchange of best practices, international partnerships. Through these programs staff, students and institutions can take part in stimulating learning experiences and, at the same time, help to develop education and training across Europe (and beyond).

Despite the abundance of exciting, creative and innovative ideas to work together with education and training institutes within or outside the EU27, many of these can not be pursued because of the enormous threshold that is felt in securing (co-) funding through the aforementioned programs. This is largely due to the so called ‘red tape’, the technicalities in the application procedure and the specific components that need to be produced.

Ecorys has developed a training program for professionals in the education and training sector who wish to submit an application to receive funding but lack the experience of developing a comprehensive project proposal. During a 2-day intensive and interactive training program, participants will be familiarised with all aspects of writing a competitive proposal, including the red tape, project budgeting, proposal coordination and the dos and don’ts.

The training will be moderated by seasoned experts who have an impressive track record in primary, secondary, vocational and tertiary education and have ample experience in developing project proposals as well as implementing these in the international education sector. More information is available via This e-mail address is being protected from spam bots, you need JavaScript enabled to view it .

4. MIRT en OEI training for Dutch governmental organisations
This training is a client-based training course aiming at Dutch governmental organisations. It focuses on the Dutch OEI-guidelines for cost-benefit analyses (CBA) and the use of this instrument within the Dutch long term investment plans, such as MIRT. The goal of the training is to provide policymakers and project leaders insight in the possibilities of the CBA and in the relation between the CBA and other relevant studies such as the traffic forecasts and the environmental assessment. This two day training uses a lot of client-based exercises and the trainers use a lot of practical experience to explain the different steps.

For more information, please contact This e-mail address is being protected from spam bots, you need JavaScript enabled to view it .
More information about this (Dutch) training can be found via http://www.ecorys.nl/training/2.html.

5. Training effective policy/programme formulation
Effective policy and programme formulation is needed more than ever now that the public sector is facing immense budget cuts. However, policies and programmes are not always internally coherent, resulting in less effective policies. This training will help you in making the right choices towards effective policy design.

During the course you will be taken step-by-step through the process of policy formulation, based on the Logical Framework Approach (LFA). This leads you through the steps of problem identification – setting the objectives – policy options and choosing the most effective interventions – defining monitoring and evaluation criteria. The training combines theory, practical sessions and exercises, and is based on the idea of “action learning”, encouraging you to draw upon examples of projects you are currently involved in. In this way, the training is directly relevant to your work.
 
This training is designed for civil servants, policy makers and politicians in the public sector who are professionally involved in policy and programme formulation. After completing this workshop, you will receive an official certificate of Ecorys Academy and you will be invited to become a member of Ecorys Academy alumni circle.

This two day training is scheduled for 15 and 16 September 2011 at the Ecorys training premises in Rotterdam. The price per participant is: €995 -- excluding VAT, but including drinks and lunch, coffee and tea and course material. Every additional participant from the same organisation will receive a 10% discount. You can subscribe for this course using our webform. For more information: contact us at This e-mail address is being protected from spam bots, you need JavaScript enabled to view it .

6. Master class in Cost/Benefit Analysis of EU Funded Projects

When financing major investment projects, a Cost/Benefit Analysis (CBA) appraisal is often required. A CBA quantifies and tries to put a monetary value on all relevant impacts of projects (both costs and benefits) which can be used to optimise and finance projects. For instance, the European Commission requests CBA studies for the EU Structural Funds for environmental infrastructure projects over the value of €25 million and for other projects over the value of €50 million. For EU accession countries, CBA studies are required for the EU Funds from the Instrument for Pre-Accession (IPA) for investment projects over the value of €10 million. Institutions such as the EIB, EBRD and the World Bank appraise project applications and loan requests for major infrastructure projects with the help of CBA studies. In The Netherlands, CBA studies are obligatory for proposals for major investment projects, and CBA studies are increasingly applied in the fields of urban development and ICT projects. 

A CBA is a useful tool for policy-makers and project promoters applying for funding to appraise and optimise projects.

After the highly successful first edition in Brussels, the second edition of this course will take place at Budapest, from 29 June-1 July 2011. It is important to know that the participation costs of this course might be covered by the Technical Assistance budget (IPA, Structural Funds).

Our three day Master class in Cost/Benefit Analysis of EU Funded Projects will take you through the necessary steps towards conducting a CBA study: feasibility and demand analysis, financial analysis (including EU Grant calculation), economic analysis, and risk and sensitivity analysis.

For additional information you can contact us at: This e-mail address is being protected from spam bots, you need JavaScript enabled to view it .

7. Training on the Evaluation of Acts and Regulations
Ecorys is well known for its activities in the field of evaluation. Our experience ranges from ex ante evaluations (impact assessments, cost/benefit analysis) to ex post evaluations. We have evaluated projects, programmes, organisations, policies and acts. Our clients range from local and national governments to European institutions. Evaluations of acts and regulations are the topic of a new training course currently being developed.

Government involvement often finds its way into acts or regulations. These should be reviewed periodically to see whether the intervention still contributes to the goals underlying the intervention. Such an evaluation should therefore look at the efficiency and effectiveness of policies and identify the causal impact. An important step in the analysis is often to compare the results of the intervention with the results of an alternative intervention, or no intervention at all.

Topics included in the course are:

• What are the reasons for policy initiatives? This takes a dynamic approach as policy-making is not static; what was optimal in the past, may no longer be optimal.
• What kind of ex ante assessment or evaluation is appropriate before the intervention takes shape? Are there alternatives and are these properly assessed?
• What evaluation and research tools are available? The focal point is counterfactual analysis. This distinguishes between outcomes, which are readily observed, and results, which relate outcomes to an intervention and other external developments.
• What tools should be selected and under what circumstances? Sometimes ‘hard’ data are not available, so one should rely on plausible storylines; sometimes there is an abundance of data, so statistical and econometric techniques may be applied.
• What can be done in terms of, for instance, regular monitoring to enable better evaluations?

These topics are introduced by practitioners, and illustrated by means of relevant examples. The target audience consists of legislators at all levels of government, and potentially includes practitioners as well.

Please check our website for practicalities and updates.

8. Smart and efficient project delivery through Public Private Partnerships (PPP)
The global need for infrastructure investment in the OECD and the emerging economies of Brazil, Russia, India, and China - the so-called BRIC countries - in the period up to 2030 is estimated to be US$5 trillion. With public resources limited and constrained by public debt policies, Public Private Partnerships (PPP) can provide an excellent instrument to meet investment needs through private funding.

Although private financing comes at a cost, PPP can enable governments to establish infrastructure ambitions in an effective and efficient manner, while spreading their spending over longer periods of time. Various studies have shown that PPPs are effective in delivering projects on time and within budget. As PPPs are complex, it is important for all stakeholders, both public and private, to acquire up-to-date knowledge and skills.
Ecorys Academy organises tailor-made training courses, aimed at officials from national ministries and regional and local authorities, private sector stakeholders, stakeholders from financial institutions, construction companies, transportation companies, and employees attached to multilateral or bilateral international organisations.

Our key strength is that we incorporate state of the art experience from our ongoing PPP advisory work. Our training offer covers a general introduction to the principles of PPP, in-depth training on the development of PPP projects, financial modelling for PPP projects, as well as the development of PPP strategies and policies for countries or regions. Training on PPP project and strategy development can be tailored to specific sectors, including roads, railways, ports, and "social infrastructure", such as hospitals, schools and government buildings.

More information can be found here http://www.ecorysacademy.com/public-private-partnership/introduction-to-public-private-partner.html

9. Master class in European Effectiveness
In 2009 a European Union Training Need Analysis has taken place among civil servants involved in European policy making from all EU Member States. The main goal of this survey was to systematically identify the skills, competencies and/or content areas that are most needed in order to optimise the effectiveness of the governmental sector in general, and the individual civil servants more specifically concerning European policy making. The top three most important skills and competences identified by the civil servants were: negotiation techniques, insight into cultural differences and presentation and debating techniques.

Ecorys Academy is proud to announce that on the basis of the outcome of this training need analysis, a practical and interactive master class has been developed as a service to our clients in the public sector who are actively involved in the European arena. To meet the expectations of our clients and to optimise the learning effects and didactical approach, Ecorys Academy is organising this master class in co-operation with two well-known leading institutes in this field of expertise.

During each training day the master class will deal with one of the three identified skills/competencies, resulting in a compact three day training course which will strongly contribute to the effectiveness of you and your organisation in the field of European affairs. You will become a well prepared negotiator, an excellent debater, and you will gain the confidence to deal with cultural differences.

This master class will be organised as tailor-made training. It is also possible to subscribe for this training by open subscription. To register directly, please use our online registration form.

10. Reliable economising in crisis time
At the request of the Bestuursacademie the Ecorys Academy has developed a two day training course on “reliable economising in crisis time”. Through a social Cost Benefit Analysis, the participants will be trained to distinguish real policy priorities and programmes and identify potential savings. More information is available on the Bestuursaacdemie website at http://www.bestuursacademie.nl/opleiding.detail.php?opl_id=6702.

11. Forthcoming courses

• In 2011 Ecorys Academy will organise a Quantitative Impact Assessment training for EU policy. This three day training will inform policy makers and practitioners of the different quantitative impact assessment methodologies that exist in order to evaluate and address policy proposals. The training course will link concrete policy proposals to the available methodologies and will analyse which type of methodology would be most appropriate, once limitations and assumptions are taken into account. Further information about this training course will be made available on our website www.ecorysacademy.com.
• On 11 October 2011 Ecorys Academy will organise a conference on “best practises” in internationalisation policies for the educational sector. This conference is based on the research project Ecorys undertook for the Ministry of Education in the Netherlands last year. At the conference, successful internationalisation policies will be presented and the International Education Initiative Membership will be announced. More information will be available later this year at www.ecorysacademy.com.

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