Public Sector Innovation Training for Local Government and MZ (Mjesne Zajednice - Local Communities) Representatives

Overview

Between May and October 2023, SmartUp designed and delivered two innovation training programmes in Bosnia and Herzegovina for UNDP: public sector innovation for local government staff, and social innovation for local community (MZ, mjesne zajednice) representatives. The work built on the public sector innovation training we delivered for UNDP in 2022.

Sixty-six participants took part in three cohorts: two for local government, in Banja Luka and Sarajevo with 23 participants each, and a pilot cohort of 20 MZ representatives. Participants rated the training 4.6 out of 5.

The challenge

SmartUp has delivered similar trainings before, but these programmes had to be customised to the specific needs and contexts of local government leaders and MZ representatives. This required thorough research and stakeholder engagement to ensure relevance.

Participants needed to be able to apply innovation techniques in their own roles, so the training had to cover both theoretical foundations and hands-on practice.

The project aimed for long-term impact: not only improving innovation skills but also establishing ongoing support mechanisms to embed those skills in local government practice.

Activities and methods

We began with research: a review of existing trainings, frameworks and reports, and interviews with local stakeholders. We then redesigned the training outline, which UNDP approved.

The two programmes, each lasting two days, were designed for different audiences:

Public sector innovation, for local government: an introduction to public sector innovation, then a practice-based day applying innovation tools to real local challenges.
Social innovation, for MZ representatives: an introduction to social innovation and citizen forums, then a day and a half of practical innovation combining the double diamond process with the citizen forum methodology.

Teams worked through a full innovation process on challenges from their own communities, from interviewing users to mapping the user journey. We adapted both programmes during delivery, based on assessments before, during and after the training, and teamed up with Demos Helsinki for local case studies.

Impact and learning

We delivered two training programmes across three cohorts, reaching 66 participants from local government and MZs across Bosnia and Herzegovina. Participants rated the training 4.6 out of 5.

In the local government cohorts, eight teams chose challenges from their own communities and developed ideas such as an IT hub connecting students with local companies and an app for reporting local problems and illegal dumpsites.

Participants valued the hands-on, team-based approach, so we built both programmes around real local challenges. We left them with presentations, an innovation tool guidebook, tool templates and case studies to replicate the training, and identified ways to support them further, such as a community of practitioners and online learning modules.