Giuseppe Provenzano
As the Union for the Mediterranean (UfM) evolves, strengthening staff capacity is key to managing activities effectively and ensuring future success. In response to the UfM College’s 2024 priority on enhancing project management skills, the HR Unit is implementing a structured training plan in 2025. This initiative supports staff across all six divisions and key institutional positions, aligning with UfM’s strategic priorities: environmental and climate action, sustainable development, social inclusiveness, digital transformation, and civil protection.
OBJECTIVES
The training supported ongoing efforts to improve efficiency and impact of UfM. The project management training addressed UfM's stated requirement for comprehensive knowledge and skills in managing projects. Specifically, UfM identified the following key areas for development:
The project cycle
Project management tools
Project planning
Budgeting
Monitoring
Key performance indicators (KPIs)
Risk assessment
This certificate of participation is delivered to the participants who have completed all the three online modules, knowledge tests and assignments and attended the three day in-person workshop in Turin from 14 to 16 April 2025.
CONTENT
The practitioners level offered in-depth understanding and skills, enabling participants to manage projects strategically within UfM's broader policy framework. The broad objective was to guide the practitioners on how to practically align UfM policies with platforms and projects. They discussed necessary processes and procedures to feed into the on-going organisational development at UfM. Focus areas included:
Program Management: Five domains of program management, ensuring alignment of projects with UfM policy and platforms.
Strategic Project Design and Planning: Advanced skills in designing and planning cross-sectoral initiatives on project and program level aligned with regional priorities using the Theory of Change.
Stakeholder Engagement and Communication: Engaging high-level stakeholders through Public Narrative.
Monitoring and Evaluation: Using results-based management for streamlined management.
Risk Management: Risk management strategies in the context of the UfM.
Leadership and Change Management: Models of leadership in complex settings of change. Planning for impact through UfM’s projects.
Knowledge Acquired
Project Cycle Management: Understanding the key phases—planning, implementation, and closure—within the UfM’s project governance framework.
Stakeholder Engagement: Techniques for identifying, analyzing, and managing relationships with regional and international partners.
Monitoring and Reporting: Familiarity with tools for tracking project progress using KPIs and structured reporting mechanisms.
Policy and Strategy Integration: Aligning projects with UfM strategic priorities, including environmental, social, and inclusive development agendas.
Leadership and Change Management: Models of leadership in complex settings of change.
Skills Developed
Ability to fit a project into the UfM results chain/theory of change.
Competence to design a results chain for UfM-implemented projects.
Capacity to set indicators and understand how to track them effectively.
Planning for risks
Developing public narrative as a stakeholder engagement strategy
NUMBER OF HOURS: 60