Academy on Social Dialogue and Industrial Relations

Who attends this course?

The Academy is aimed at:

• Officials from Ministries of Labour
• Officials from selected Ministries (Finance, Social Security, Education, Gender, social policies, etc.);
• Representatives from employers’ organizations;
• Representatives from workers’ organizations;
• Members and staff of national tripartite bodies, and other social dialogue institutions;
• Personnel from institutions involved in promoting social dialogue (including academic, research institutions, non-governmental organizations);
• ILO officials;
• Members of the International Association of Economic and Social Councils and Similar Institutions (AICESIS);
• Parliamentarians, community leaders, civil society and other stakeholders in society (e.g. development banks, international financial institutions).

Note: As an organization dedicated to fundamental human rights and social justice, the ILO is taking a leading role in international efforts to promote gender equality. In line with this focus, women candidates are especially welcome.

Objectives

The Academy provides advanced knowledge needed to contribute to the establishment or consolidation of social dialogue, industrial relations and collective bargaining.

Specific objectives

At the end of the Academy, participants will be able to:

• Identify enabling conditions for effective social dialogue and industrial relations;
• Refer to key international labour standards as tools for promoting social dialogue;
• Describe and discuss trends and different modalities of social dialogue and trends in industrial relations;
• Analyse good practices of social dialogue and industrial relations from different regions;
• Review the experience of tripartite social dialogue and industrial relations in their own countries and discuss how to strengthen it;
• Formulate recommendations to strengthen their national institutions of tripartite social dialogue and industrial relations at all levels;
• Establish contacts with experts and practitioners in the field of social dialogue and promote sound industrial relations for further cooperation and networking.

Structure and methodology

The Academy will combine plenary sessions with elective parallel sessions to be chosen by the participants according to their preferences.

The Academy will foster a conducive environment to social dialogue. The methodology will be learner-centred with the support of facilitators and practitioners of social dialogue. In addition to the lectures provided by national and international experts, permanent interaction among participants through group work, discussions and other interactive learning methods will take place. Participants will have the opportunity to look into several experiences of social dialogue in a direct manner through interaction with the key players of social dialogue and compare them with their own experience and context. It is expected to create a culture and momentum of dialogue to be promoted and deepened by the participants afterwards.

Language

The Academy will be held in English and French with simultaneous translation provided.

Programme

The ITC promotes a three phase approach in its learning activities:

• Phase I: Pre-course information on the Internet-based learning platform – three weeks before the course;
• Phase II: Face-to-Face workshop – two-week course in Turin;
• Phase III: Post-Training on the Internet-based learning platform – following the face-to-face course.

During the two weeks in Turin, an action-oriented, highly participative approach will be used, with particular attention devoted to sharing international experiences with a view to their adaptation and practical application:

• Training methods will combine lectures and discussions, case studies, open space debate, role-play exercises and group work using up-to-date learning methods and technologies;
• Particular attention will be paid to the presentation of “good practices” through case studies reflecting experiences already gained locally and internationally.

Evaluation

A permanent monitoring of the learning process will be conducted by the Academy coordinator and facilitators; the participatory methodology adopted - based on several forms of interaction, discussion, brainstorming and exercises – will provide the feedback necessary to detect gaps in the learning process. At the end of the Academy, participants will be asked to fill an evaluation questionnaire. The data will be used by the ITC/ILO to improve its future training activities.