On-site in Tartu 28 July - 7 August, online 12-23 August
The Summer School „Civic Competence in Creative Cities: How Digital Innovations Contribute to Durable Democracies“ will focus on how to use digital innovations in public administrations to unlock and implement civic competence.
The Summer School will consist of an in-person part that takes place in Tartu (28 July - 7 August) and a facultative online part (12 August – 23 August). The Summer School is a unique opportunity for students from around the world to learn about the promises, proliferation, and perils of digital democratic innovations, with a special emphasis on experiences in Estonia, arguably one of the most advanced digital societies in the world. The summer course will focus on learning and reflecting on state-of-the-art academic knowledge on digital democratic innovations, as well as on student research projects on digital innovations in Estonia (particularly in the city of Tartu). The European Capital of Culture 2024 events also allow for ample opportunities for students to experience Estonian culture and acquire skills to present research outcomes in more creative (oral and audiovisual) ways (rather than in the form of a regular academic paper). This Summer Course builds upon experiences we gathered during two successful previous Summer Courses (Building Digital Governance. 2022, and Agile Governance in a Digital Age, 2023).
The online study will take place from August 12 to 23 in the Moodle environment and will consist of three broad thematic blocks - digital representation (electronic elections with an emphasis on Estonia’s experiences with Internet voting) – e-participation (technology-enabled participatory budgeting) and e-deliberation (political participation on electronic platforms, notably social media). The virtual learning will consist of live lectures, video lectures, and independent work with academic resources. Each thematic block will be finalised with a small exam.
The course is supported by the ECePS ERA Chair, that has received funding from the European Union’s Horizon 2020 research and innovation programme under grant agreement No 857622.
Focus area: | Digital Governance, Public Administration, Politics | Coordinating unit at UT | Johan Skytte Institute of Political Studies |
Study Field: | Politics and Governance in the Digital Age | Course Leader | Prof Vincent Homburg, Professor of e-governance |
Format | Summer Course | Location | online and in Tartu, Estonia |
Course dates: | 28 July - 7 August on-site, 12-23 August online | Apply by: | 15 May 2024 |
ECTS: | 3 (+2 for online part) | Fee: | 700 EUR |
Study | MA/PhD, advanced BA | Language | English |
Lecturers:
Students from BIP partner universities are nominated by their home universities via the SoleMOVE platform and are exempt from the application fee. Please contact your institute's Erasmus coordinator.
Sunday, 28 July
Arrival
Monday, 29 July
Welcome and meetup in person
Class about the history and context of digitalisation in Estonia
Assisted group work (preparation of fieldwork)
Tuesday, 30 July
Class about Digital Era Governance
Exam about required readings
Workshop on storytelling and how to present findings in creative ways
Wednesday, 31 July
Class about models of democracy, digital democracy and participation
Instruction on how to analyse qualitative data
Assisted group work (gathering data in the field)
Thursday, 1 August
Excursion to Tallinn: visit to Majandus- ja Kommunikatsiooniministeerium and E-Estonia Briefing Center (8h including bus trip)
Class about impacts of e-voting in Estonia (2h), meetup with former president Toomas Hendrik Ilves
Assisted group work (analysing data from the field)
Friday, 2 August
Class about the impacts of e-voting in Estonia
Class about open data and public participation
Meetup with former president ToomasHendrik Ilves
Presentation of preliminary findings by student groups
Saturday, 3 August – free day
Sunday, 4 August – free day
Monday, 5 August
Class about public innovation and digitalisation
Assisted groupwork (analysing data from the field/production of animated video)
Tuesday, 6 August
Class about public values in public innovation
Class on impact and valorisation of research
Assisted group work (production ofanimated video)
Wednesday, 7 August
Final presentations and feedback
Diplomas and evaluation
Closing session
Thursday, 8 August
Departure
ONLINE PART: 12 - 23 August
1st week (12-16 August)
Digital representation: Internet voting in Estonia
Activities: online live lecture (Monday), three video lectures, study of literature, MC exam (Friday)
Examination: multiple choice exam (P/F) on Moodle
2nd week (19-23 August)
Digital participation: e-budgeting
Activities: Online lecture (Monday), study of literature, MC exam (Friday)
Examination: multiple choice exam (P/F) on Moodle.
Entry requirements:
PS: Only complete applications including all annexes submitted by the deadline will be considered for selection.
After having completed the Summer Course, participants will be able to:
- explain core concepts and lines of reasoning of Digital Era Govenance and models of digital democracy;
- design and conduct research projects focusing on how citizens (in various roles) experience digital governance and digital democracy;
- report research findings using storytelling and audiovisual techniques.
Students will receive reading materials in the pre-on-site phase of the Summer Course, and their knowledge will be tested by means of an exam (during the on-site part). The exam result will be a part of the overall grade.
NB! There is a separate social programme for this course which will be announced during July the latest.
Two weeks prior to the start of the programme an information file will be sent to all participants. This file contains the daily schedule and relevant contact information of the programme managers.
Students are responsible for their travel, accommodation and travel insurance (visa arrangements if needed) from their home country to Tartu and back to their home country. It is recommended to visit the Tartu Welcome Centre website and arrival and housing section to find accommodation opportunities.