Rationale | Purpose | Approach | Competences | Profile | Customers | Team Governance International works with public agencies and partnerships to improve the quality of life of citizens and the quality of public services. We are based in the UK but operate internationally, drawing on a highly experienced team of experts under the supervision of directors based in Germany, Spain and the UK. Currently we are working with several partners in Western and Eastern Europe. However, we are already expanding our network to include Latin America and Asia. The Good Governance Model shows how to improve policy outcomes through better partnership working between key stakeholders. Governance International was incorporated as a company limited by guarantee on 17 July 2002 by Companies House in London (registration number 4488214). The rationale for Governance International? "People, communities and businesses can get more involved in working together to improve the things that really matter to them, with the support and help of all the public sector organisations in the area". Across the world, public agencies are increasingly expected to deliver more for less. Furthermore, they are expected to improve the quality of public services continuously. At the same time, they have to recognise that they can only meet future challenges if they work in close partnership with other public agencies and stakeholders. This key aspect of good governance is often ignored in public service improvement models, leading to policy failure, public discontent and poor staff morale. Governance International believes 1. Governance goes beyond public service improvements to focus on improving the quality of people's lives. 2. Governance also goes beyond government. Today most social problems can only be solved if public agencies work in partnership with other stakeholders such as communities and business. 3. Good governance involves multiple stakeholders working towards quality of life improvements through agreed 'rules of the game'. Purpose "to find new resources and to solve social problems" Governance International supports public and nonprofit agencies and their main stakeholders in the implementation of good governance. In particular, Governance International helps agencies and their stakeholders to engage in partnership working so that public agencies can take the lead in solving 'wicked' problems; to supplement scarce public sector resources by activating stakeholders from other sectors; to make governance a decisive factor in building sustainable communities. Approach "flexible and user-oriented" Governance International is the first organisation to have developed and tested a user-friendly tool - the Good Governance Model - to evaluate and improve the quality of partnership working. Governance International has also developed a range of toolkits which allow public and nonprofit organisations to make full use of the Good Governance Model.   Competences "identifying quick wins" Our core competence is the development of initiatives which mobilise the knowledge, resources and engagement of citizens, business and community organisations and activate them to solve complex social problems. Our current major consulting activities are in: Performance management Quality management Resource management Participatory budgets Public consultation and participation Neighbourhood management Evaluating the quality partnership working through the Governance Health Check and self-assessment toolkit. Profile "international, interactive and innovative"   Governance International takes an independent look at the ways you work with your citizens and stakeholders and recommends how to do it better, acting as an independent broker to identify actions which will generate commitment and unlock resources in your area.   Our international experience and network allows us to identify ‘best practices’ and lessons that you can learn from innovative public agencies elsewhere, while being sensitive to your national and local context. Our interactive approaches have worked successfully in international organisations, central governments, local authorities, and specific departments and services. Our innovative ideas will help to improve the outcomes of your organisation and to work better with your key stakeholders. You want to know more about Governance International? Please download a brief description of the organisation in .pdf. Customers "local authorities, national and international agencies and NGOs" Since the foundation of Governance International, directors and staff have worked in a variety of countries and settings, including: UK Gateshead and Darlington Councils: Staff seminars on participatory budgeting, 2007 Carnegie Foundation, UK: consultancy input to the Carnegie Commission for Rural Community Development report and preparation of 20 international Rural Governance Best Practice Case Studies, 2005-2006 Carrick Housing Ltd.: development of Governance Balanced Scorecards for public services providers on Carrick Housing Estates, 2005 DEFRA and Cumbria County Council: workshop on European ‘best practice’ and keynote speech, National Conference on Rural Affairs, 2005 IDeA: 50 case studies of how cultural services, libraries and sports can achieve social objectives, e.g. fighting anti-social behaviour, 2003-2004 Calderdale Council: development of Governance Balanced Scorecards for public services providers of Calderdale Council, 2003 Continental Europe French Ministry of Finance: Project management of European Study on Coproduction of Services, 2008 French Ministry of Finance: Scientific rapporteur, 5th EU Quality Conference, Paris 2008 Spanish Agency for Evaluation: Keynote speech at National Quality Conference, Madrid 2007 Austrian Bundeskanzleramt: Keynote speech at National Conference on Quality Standards, 2007 Vienna Economic Chamber: Development of a Masters Programme on Public Management and Governance for new private MODUL University Vienna in Austria, 2005-2007 Finnish Ministry of Finance: Scientific rapporteur, 4th EU Quality Conference, Tampere 2006 Belgium government: Keynote speech at National Quality Conference in 2005 (attended by 700 civil servants) Luxemburg government: Keynote speech at EU Quality Conference, 2005 Spanish Association of Cities (FEMP): Speaker at National Conference on Citizen Participation, 2005 Austrian Bundeskanzleramt: Keynote speech at National Innovation Conference, 2004 Germany: Governance Scorecard for City of Ulm, 2004 Netherlands - Ministry of Interior: Scientific rapporteur, 3rd EU Quality Conference, Rotterdam 2004 (attended by 1200 people) Italian government: Speaker at Quality Management Seminar organised by FORMEZ, 2003 Switzerland: Governance Scorecard for local authority of Baar, 2003 Spain: Governance Scorecard for City of Barcelona, 2002 International organisations SIGMA/EU: Organisation of seminar on quality management for civil servants at regional level in Romania, 2008 Friedrich-Ebert Foundation, Germany: Consulting on civil service reforms in Mongolia, 2007 SIGMA/EU: Organisation of seminar on quality management for civil servants at central government level in Romania, 2007 UNDP: Rolling out service improvement plans to four local authorities in Turkey, 2007 Council of Europe: Speaker at conference on performance management for local government in Veliki Novgorod, 2006 UNDP: Implementation of service improvement plans in two pilot local authorities in Turkey, 2006 SIGMA/EU: Implementation of pilot programme on service charters in Czech Republic, 2006-2007 SIGMA/EU: Organisation of seminar on quality management for civil servants and speakers at National Quality Conference in Czech Republic, 2005 Hanns-Seidel Foundation, Germany: Development and implementation of quality management approach for the Treasury of Morroco, 2005-2007 SIGMA/EU: Speaker at seminar on "Public Administration Reform and European Integration" in Turkey, 2005. UNDP: Assessment of Administrative Capacity in Kosovo, 2004-2005 EU Commission: Evaluation of the France-UK Interreg-Programme IIIA, 2004 Team "an experienced team of experts from a variety of different cultural and institutional backgrounds" Elke Loeffler is the Chief Executive of Governance International. Previously she was a staff member of the Public Management and Governance Service (PUMA) of OECD. She has been a consultant for the World Bank, OECD, UNDP, the Cabinet Office, IDeA and many other agencies in European countries. The CV can be downloaded in .doc and .pdf here. email:elke.loeffler@govint.org The other directors are: Tony Bovaird, Professor of Public Management and Policy, Institute of Local Government Studies, School of Public Policy, University of Birmingham. He is the director of the national research team conducting a meta-evaluation of the Local Government Modernisation Agenda from 2003-2009 on behalf of the Office of the Deputy Prime Minister in the UK. The CV can be downloaded in .doc and .pdf here. email:tony.bovaird@govint.org Gerhard Banner, free-lance consultant on local government in Germany. He was Chief Administrative Officer of a large city before becoming the head of a highly influential local government association (KGSt) in Germany. In this post he initiated a nation-wide management reform movement at local level in the 1990s. The CV can be downloaded in .doc and .pdf here. email:gerhard.banner@govint.org Salvador Parrado, Professor of Public Administration at the Spanish Distance University. His main interests are public governance at local level. He is a consultant to many Spanish local and regional authorities and international organisations such as SIGMA (a joint EU-OECD programme) and OECD. The CV can be downloaded in .doc and .pdf here. email:salvador.parrado@govint.org   Dr. Elke Loeffler Chief Executive Governance International 2nd Floor, 3 Brindley Place Birmingham B1 2JB UK tel: + 44 (0) 121 698 8743 fax: + 44 (0) 121 698 8600 email: elke.loeffler@govint.org Registration Number: 4488214 Companies House London