Course 2021-2022 a.y.

The course is worth 6 ECTS credits and is organized in six common modules of 4 hours each, for a total of 24 hours of common lectures across the different Institutions, plus 12 hours (six lectures) with activities specific for each Institution. The remaining hours are devoted to the completion of the capstone project assignment.

The six common modules (2 sessions of 2 hours per module) cover the following topics:

1. Introduction to the main EU challenges (coord. Pierre Moscovici, Sciences Po)

2. Globalization and economic shocks (coord. Mark Hallerberg, Hertie School)

3. Environment, Sustainability and the EU Green Deal (coord. Stefano Pogutz, Bocconi)

4. Digitalization and Innovation in Europe (coord. Erik Wetter, SSE)

5. Democracy, Governance and Populism in the EU (coord. Mark Kayser, Hertie School)

6. Policy debates and conclusion (co-teaching)

The six lectures specific to Bocconi students (coord. Grace Ballor, Harvard & Bocconi), placed at the beginning of the course, provide the historical framework of the contents developed in the common modules.

Students will then work jointly in cross-campus teams on the Capstone Project in the second half of the course. Groups will be formed to ensure balance between backgrounds and institutions, and each group will be assigned a faculty supervisor. Each team must analyze one EU-relevant policy problem of choice (among a given subset of topics provided by instructors) and suggest possible policy solutions. Each team is expected to hand in by 15 December 2021 a policy paper of 2000 words outlining policy position and solutions. Detailed instructions on the Capstone Project will be provided at the beginning of the course.

While experiencing the unique opportunity of having direct interaction with some of the top scholars on policy areas across different countries and institutions, at the end of the course students will be able to:

1. Outline and critically appraise challenging areas of policy-making facing the European Union in the coming years;

2. Identify and analyze the main economic, political and societal challenges posed by globalization, climate change, the digital transition and consider the evolution of the political systems within the European Union in response to these challenges;

3. Explain and evaluate the dynamics characterizing European Union policy responses, with a particular focus on responses in times of crisis.

1.  Apply key concepts and insights from the relevant theoretical literatures to the analysis of contemporary European policy challenges

2. Propose evidence-based policy solutions to EU-relevant policy problems, developed working in groups

• Face-to-face lectures
• Online lectures
• Group assignments
• Interactive class activities (role playing, business game, simulation, online forum, instant polls)

The common modules of the course will be delivered synchronously across all the campuses of the CIVICA consortium as a series of live on-line lectures, integrated with local activities carried out face-to-face.

The Capstone Project (group assignment) is developed by teams of (ideally) 6 students across (at least) 3 campuses. The project has to address in detail a concrete policy challenge among those covered during the Course.

During the last module of the course students will be involved in interactive policy discussions on the topics covered in their Capstone Project, so as to discuss and fine-tune their draft policy papers.

The assessment is based on an individual Mid-Term exam covering the local lectures and the first three Modules of the course, allowing students to apply key concepts and insights from the relevant theoretical literatures to the investigation of contemporary European policy challenges

A final Capstone Project allows students, working in groups, to propose in written and oral form evidence-based policy solutions to EU-relevant policy problems.

All the teaching materials (slides and reading) will be posted on a common platform developed by CIVICA, to which enrolled students throughout the different Institutions will be given access. The link to the course lectures as well as the course calendar will also be posted there.