Good Practices and Innovations in Public Governance 2003-2011

2010 Category 2: Australia
A great deal of consideration has also been given to setting standards for the implementation
of BRIDGE programmes so as to maintain BRIDGE’s integrity and
achieve the highest possible client satisfaction. To that end, the partners have agreed
on the following rules and guidelines:
• BRIDGE implementers must advise the BRIDGE Office, as soon as they can
legitimately do so, of forthcoming BRIDGE activities.
• BRIDGE workshops must be conducted by accredited facilitators, who have an
in-depth understanding of the BRIDGE content and methodologies. This ensures
the quality of outcomes and consistency of approach in the delivery of
BRIDGE training.
• Workshops and programmes calling themselves BRIDGE must acknowledge
the BRIDGE partners. Part of the strength and credibility of BRIDGE comes
from the partnership, therefore it is important to give due recognition.
• Copyright of the BRIDGE materials must be respected. In this context, it must
be emphasised that the translation of materials does not change the underlying
intellectual property.
• BRIDGE partners may arrange translation of BRIDGE materials in consultation
with the BRIDGE Office. Other individuals and organisations must obtain
permission from the BRIDGE Office before undertaking translations.
• BRIDGE facilitators and implementers must provide additional activities and
resources, translations, evaluations and programme reports to the BRIDGE
website, via the BRIDGE Office. This ensures that lessons are learned and that
the curriculum is improved on an ongoing basis.
While BRIDGE’s initial focus was on election processes, its success has led the partners
to explore a broadening of the curriculum to include wider issues of democracy
and governance. Major work is currently being undertaken on the development of a
democracy and governance curriculum for the Asia-Pacific region. To date, this curriculum
has been piloted in Vanuatu and Bhutan. As always, strong emphasis is being
placed on the role of stakeholders both as participants in developing the curriculum
and as potential target audiences for the workshops.
Replicability and Sustainability
BRIDGE is generally funded by external donor agencies, but the two guiding principles
that underpin the curriculum are sustainability and local ownership. This is certainly the
case in countries such as Papua New Guinea (PNG). In PNG, the initial BRIDGE programmes
were funded by the Australian Agency for International Development (Aus-
AID). However, as the number of accredited and experienced local facilitators grew, did
the political will of the PNG Electoral Commission to self-fund grew also. PNG now has
109