Karacho
Edlira Xhafa, Dr Frank Hoffer, David Hall, Christoph Scherrer, Baba Aye, SungHee Oh, mercy nabwire, Nicolas Pons-Vignon, Jason Schneck, Bruno Dobrusin, Alana Dave, Frau Nice Coronacion, Tolga Tören, sean sweeney, Herr Colin Long, Irene HongPing Shen und Herr Brian Kamanzi

The Future is Public

  • FREE
  • 3 h 01 min
  • Englisch
  • Interdisziplinär, Politikwissenschaften, Sozial- und Gesellschaftswissenschaften
  • mit Zertifikat Upgrade-Option

What is the course about?

This online course discusses key issues affecting the quality and accessibility of public services as well as new, emerging visions in sectors such as health, energy, transport, water and others. In particular, through struggles to resist commercialisation of public services and the environmental crisis, workers and trade unions, in coalition with other social movements, can play a fundamental role in the realisation of these visions. 

Check our trailer here

Key concepts

quality public services, transformation, equality, transparency, democracy, care for the environment, trade unions, social movements, commodification of public services, privatisation. 

Course materials and workload

This course has 5 content chapters. The chapter contains a series of units; each unit is composed of one video lecture, two quiz questions, one exercise, one key reading as well as additional readings. All the course materials, including video scripts, can be downloaded and used offline. Zoom workshops with the course experts are recorded and added to the course content for those interested in going deeper into the issues discussed in each video lecture. 

The estimated workload for each chapter is 7-8 hours.

Course certificates

Certificates are available for purchase from iversity.

If you meet the course requirements, you can obtain a scholarship from the Global Labour University. For details on the requirements, read carefully the information in Chapter 1, Unit 2.

Localised workshops

The Global Labour University Online Academy will also organise a series of blended interventions through its network of more than 100 local trainers in 33 countries, namely: 

Austria, Bangladesh, Argentina, Belgium, Benin, Brazi, Bolivia, Cameroon, China, Chile, Cambodia, Colombia, Ghana, Dominican Republic, Honduras, Vietnam, Germany, India, Kenya, Malawi, Nigeria, Liberia, Philippines, South Africa, Serbia, Spain, Trinidad and Tobago, Turkey, United States, Uganda, Venezuela, Zambia, and Zimbabwe. 

Let us know if you want to join a localised workshop by sending an email to online@global-labour-university.org detailing your country, city and organisation. For more details, check Chapter 1 of our online course. 

What will you learn?

Upon completing this online course, the course participants will be able to: 

  • state key facts on the importance of public services for cohesive societies;
  • explain the key barriers to achieving universal, accessible quality public services and demonstrate how these key barriers apply to their particular context;
  • examine and problematise the underlying structures and conditions, which undermine the delivery of universal, accessible quality public services in their own countries; 
  • argue in support of a radical transformation of public services based on enhanced funding and expansion of public services on values of equity, participation, efficiency, quality of service, accountability, transparency, quality of the workplace, sustainability, solidarity and public ethos;
  • appraise what needs to change in key public sectors such as health and care, transport, energy, water and others in their own countries;  and
  • formulate ideas for the transformation of public services in their own countries informed by examples of struggles for new visions of public services in countries across the world. 

What is the target audience?

workers, trade unionists, labour and other activists, labour researchers and practitioners, NGOs, students, media and others.

What prior knowledge is required?

This is a multi-disciplinary course drawing on the fields of social, political and economic sciences. It is at the level of a Masters’ programme, but the concepts are explained in an accessible language and illustrated through examples. Therefore, it is also possible to participate in the course using the skills and knowledge acquired. The course requires a working level of English.

Course instructors