Effective Project Management Certification Programme

Delivered under the Development Cooperation Academy, this certification programme, combining distance-learning modules, a one-week workshop, and a practicum, enables participants to acquire the knowledge, the technical skills and the tools necessary to ensure effective, agile and adaptive implementation of development projects, taking into account the complexity of the social systems in which such projects take place. OBJECTIVES This certification confirms that participants have achieved the following objectives: • Acquire an understanding of the requirements of project management in simple, complicated and complex contexts. • Gain an overview of different implementation contexts as experienced by a variety of development actors. • Gain the skills to plan, implement and monitor development projects in predictive, hybrid, agile and adaptive approaches. • Written a relevant, coherent and well-structured project operational document. CONTENT AND PHASES I. Distance learning modules The online certification programme was delivered through the ITCILO online platform E-campus. Participants completed two tutor-guided weekly learning topics introducing the knowledge and skills required to plan, implement and monitor development projects in predictive, hybrid, agile and adaptive approaches. The on-line modules covered the topics: • Project Cycle Management • Operational project planning II. One-week workshop and the Development Cooperation Academy The second phase consisted of a one-week workshop held under the Development Cooperation Academy. During the workshop, participants completed the remaining modules: • Settings of complexity • Agile and adaptive project management approaches and techniques • Project governance structures, from traditional functional to remote models • Stakeholder engagement, leadership, team management and communication • Risk management, and • Monitoring, control and reporting During the week, participants also engaged in a 90-minute daily global forum with 80 participants as part of the Development Cooperation Academy. Through these discussions, participants explored the future of work in development cooperation, focusing on topics such as implementing safeguards, leveraging data-driven services to improve development cooperation, the realities of the attention and gig economies and their impact on communication and forms of employment, and the growing role of artificial intelligence. These sessions provided participants with comprehensive and strategic insights into the evolving landscape of development cooperation. III. Practicum at distance Following the week-long workshop, participants completed a practicum/coaching phase with the support and guidance of ITCILO experts. During this phase, participants wrote a light Operational Manual and submitted it to ITCILO for review and appraisal. ACHIEVEMENT This Certificate of Achievement was awarded to participants who successfully completed the required deliverables, including individual and group assignments, during each phase of the programme. I. Distance learning modules (20 hours), conducted online via ITCILO eCampus • Completed two tutor-led online modules. • Acquired general principles of Project Cycle Management and project design • Acquired the skills to operationally plan a project in a predictive project management environment II. Face-to-face workshop (30 hours) in Turin, Italy • Acquired practical knowledge and skills to assess the complexity of projects and their contexts, how to manage projects in agile and adaptive approaches, how to design project governance structures, and engage stakeholders and manage teams, manage risks as well as monitor, control and report on projects. • Elaborated and discussed cases based on their own and other participants’ projects in a peer learning workshop approach. III. Practicum at distance (20 hours) • Researched, developed, and completed autonomously a light Operational Manual based on their own project. • Submitted the complete project document to ITCILO experts for review, assessment, and certification. NUMBER OF HOURS: 70