ReSPA and the Croatian National School for Public Administration are taking the Beyond Classroom Learning (BCL) initiative into its next phase, bringing together Training Managers, Directors and senior representatives of public administration training institutions from the Western Balkans, Moldova and Croatia. The programme was facilitated by Dr Osman Bayraktar, in close cooperation with Valentina Ferenčak, the National School for Public Administration of Croatia and ReSPA.

Rather than approaching leadership only through broad sets of competencies, the BCL model placed real workplace situations at the centre of learning. The September programme builds on two BCL workshops held in Zagreb earlier this year. In March, the focus was People Leadership and the realities behind performance conversations. In April, participants explored Collaboration Leadership and cross-unit coordination under constraints – from unclear mandates and competing priorities to limited resources and organisational silos.

This third stage moves from testing the approach towards institutional application. Training Managers are strengthening their ability to identify the real workplace situations behind broad training requests, using structured conversations, survey analysis, AI-supported prompts and simulation. Directors and Deputy Directors are experiencing the methodology first-hand through demanding decision situations, including the tension between making an exception and respecting the rule, and changing priorities when information is incomplete.

The programme focused on challenges familiar to many public sector leaders: making difficult decisions, responding to changing priorities, coordinating across organisational boundaries, handling pressure and acting when information is incomplete. These are moments in which professional knowledge matters—but so do self-awareness, judgement, empathy and the ability to understand how decisions affect others.

“The future of public administration learning cannot be built only around courses. We need to start from the real situations leaders face, bring learning closer to the workplace, and help training institutions become learning architects that enable people to act, reflect and improve together.” said Jelena Mrdak, ReSPA Director a.i.

The final strategic session turns to the next chapter for public administration training institutions themselves. Through peer dialogue, participants will identify the organisational changes and enabling conditions that matter most and define one concrete action their institution can take within the next months.

For ReSPA, BCL is about connecting learning with the reality of public service – so that its value is visible not only in the training room, but in what leaders do differently when they return to work. Hence, we are very grateful for a successful partnership with the National School for Public Administration of Croatia, Dr Osman Bayraktar and training institutions from the regions.