About

Brief history

The Public Management Institute (in Dutch: Instituut voor de Overheid) is an independent and self-supporting academic institution. The Institute exists in its present form since 1998. Its predecessors however date back to the 1960s, when the first training sessions in management were held for senior civil servants. The founding fathers were prof. dr. em. Roger Depré and prof. dr. em. Hugo Van Hasselt.

The Public Management Institute was integrated in the Faculty of Social Sciences (Department of Political Science) in 1973, when a distinction was made between ‘public’ and ‘private’ management training programmes.
In the 1980s, the number of applied research projects grew, as well as fundamental research (Ph.Ds). The 1990s saw an increase in research projects as a result of programmes commissioned by the federal and Flemish governments.

The approximately 30 staff of the Public Management Institute have different academic backgrounds such as public administration, business administration, economics, sociology, political science, psychology and law.

Objective

The main objective of the Public Management Institute is to improve public management, public organization and public policy. The Institute attempts to function as an interface between the university and the public sector. Its main activities are:

fundamental and applied research
training and education for students and civil servants
consultancy

Applying an interdisciplinary approach, the Public Management Institute is active in a number of fields:

One of the major strengths of the Institute is the combination of research, training and education as well as consultancy. The Institute's interdisciplinary research has always been utilized in its training activities and consultancy. Contacts with public organizations through consultancy and networking link research and education with the practice of public management.

Consultancy

The purpose of consultancy activities is to develop action research, linking theories, methods and practice in a change process. It aims at developing learning organizations, able to tackle their changing environments and permanently readjusting their organization, management and policy.
The main activities of the Public Management Institute in this field are:

organizational audits
implementation of new personnel, financial and organizational systems
supporting processes of change

Interface

Members of the Public Management Institute participate in national as well as international networks in order to exchange information and experiences. At a national and regional level, members of the Public Management Institute are engaged in the Belgian and Flemish Institute of Public Management. They are active members of several editorial boards (amongst others the Flemish Journal of Public Management).

At an international level, the staff of the Public Management Institute is active in EGPA (European Group of Public Administration), IIAS (International Institute of Administrative Sciences), SCEPSTA (Standing Conference of European Public Service Training Agencies), EPAN (European Public Administration Network) and EES (European Evaluation Society). The Public Management Institute has been an active contributor to the OECD PUMA-project on 'Performance, Accountability and Control'. Members of the Public Management Institute participate in the editorial boards of several international journals.

International dimension: networks and editorial boards

Members of the Public Management Institute participate in national as well as international networks in order to exchange information and experiences. At national and regional levels members of the Public Management Institute are engaged in the Belgian and Flemish Association of Public Management. They are active members of several editorial boards (including the Flemish Journal of Public Management).

At an international level, the staff of the Public Management Institute is active in several organizations including EES (European Evaluation Society), EGPA (European Group of Public Administration), EPAN (European Public Administration Network), European Association of Public Administration Accreditation (EAPAA), IIAS (International Institute of Administrative Sciences), SCEPSTA (Standing Conference of European Public Service Training Agencies).

Within EGPA, several staff members are chair or co-chair of permanent study groups such as: productivity and quality, personnel policies, public finance and management, ethics and integrity.

The Public Management Institute has been an active contributor to the OECD PUMA-project on Performance, Accountability and Control.
Members of the Public Management Institute participate in the editorial boards of several international journals including Bestuurskunde (Vereniging voor Bestuurskunde, The Netherlands), Public Performance and Management Review (American Society of Public Administration, USA), Public Voices (Public Performance Press, New York).

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