Good Practices and Innovations in Public Governance 2003-2011

Good Practices and InnovATIONS in Public Governance
The original objectives of the BRIDGE project were to:
• Promote internationally accepted principles of democracy and good electoral
practice.
• Enhance the skills and confidence of stakeholders in the electoral process.
• Increase the awareness of tools and resources available for building and maintaining
a sustainable electoral culture.
• Develop a support network for stakeholders in electoral processes and encourage
a culture of sharing.
As with all effective, long-term projects, the BRIDGE implementation strategy has
evolved based on lessons learned, client feedback and partner input. The experience
of running BRIDGE programmes has confirmed that achieving the best possible
outcomes requires extensive consultation, detailed planning, meticulous
preparation, systematic implementation with an eye to sustainability, and careful
evaluation. For this reason a BRIDGE Implementation Manual has been created as
a reference tool for BRIDGE partners and BRIDGE implementing organisations
and facilitators.
The BRIDGE implementation strategy outlined in the manual can be summarised as
follows:
• Identifying needs and broad objectives and carefully considering whether
BRIDGE is an appropriate tool for addressing these.
• Formulating and adopting a grass-roots strategy and plan for training, in consultation
with the key stakeholders.
• Ensuring that the plan is driven by a local agenda, with stakeholders defining
their own needs.
• Identifying programme objectives through consultation and contextualization.
• Thoughtfully and appropriately designing a programme.
• Considering an evaluation framework.
• Undertaking comprehensive logistical planning.
• Executing the programme in a well-organised way.
• Undertaking a well-planned and useful evaluation.
• Generating clear reports and documentation.
• Pursuing strategies for sustaining the programme and its effectiveness (for example,
by creating an internalised professional development strategy so that
local trainers can continue BRIDGE, and by passing ownership to the client
organisation at the completion of the programme).
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