1st Year

Course description: This course focuses on development of necessary skills to understand the complexity of economics mechanisms. The course is discussing the connection between theory and practice through the use of case studies.

Course objectives: at the end of the class students will understand and will be ready to use the main concepts in public finance and economics.

Skills acquired by students: detailed knowledge on public economics and public finance.

Credits: 6

This is a pilot course which tries to offer you an innovative perspective on one topic which is extremely relevant for community development, namely collaborative governance at local level. Increasingly, local governments are no longer the sole actors involved in shaping the future of their communities. The paradigm of governance has implied a transition to multi-actor networks which function based on collaboration/partnership. These networks are constantly reshaped through the action of their members as well as under the influence of contextual factors. Success or failure of such networks often depends on complex issues such as building trust among partners and developing a culture for shared visions.    

The course will comprise a series of lectures and presentations by practitioners from the three relevant sectors which currently at the level of Cluj-Napoca shape the processes of urban redevelopment, community empowerment, and trans-sectorial partnerships. These sectors are – businesses, with a focus on IT and knowledge-based sector, city government with a focus on urban development and urban innovation, NGOs, and public-private partnerships already established as formal organizational structures. Besides the individual lectures from practitioners, the course will be coordinated by three FSPAC instructors who will communicate with the students and the practitioners and will facilitate a cohesive and unitary approach to the class. The instructors are Tudor Ticlau, Bogdan Moldovan and Bogdana Neamtu.

- 10 % of your grade comes from the intermediary report which needs to be submitted  on Moodle by May 1^st.

- 60 % of your grade comes from the final paper, which needs to be uploaded on Moodle until the 20th of June

- 30% of the grade comes from submitting short reflective paper. In order to be graded you need to submit a minimum of 3 reflective papers.  Deadline 15th of May

Specific objectives of the course: a) Understanding the various historical models and approaches in public administration and learn to adapt institutions, tools and procedures to Romanian or other contexts; b) Analyze, understand and offer solutions to issues related to public institutions or public sector in general, or to not-for-profit or private organizations involved in public affairs; c) Understanding the concept of governance and its possible application to Romanian public administration

In recent years there has been growing political and theoretical focus upon the contribution of nonprofit and voluntary sector organizations within modern market-based democracies. Increasingly governments look to nonprofit organizations, charities, cooperatives or social enterprises to provide remedies to social problems; at the same time voluntary organizations within civil society seek to regulate and to change the behaviors of governments and of the market.

This course aims to provide students with conceptual frameworks to understand what the nonprofit and voluntary sector organizations’ roles are and how organized civil society and the third sector function in developed economies. It seeks to explore the history and the theoretical function and contribution of such organizations, and also some of the challenges of governance and accountability.

The course draws in particular upon literature and research of European countries and the United States.

On completion of the course students will understand:

• history and traditions of philanthropy, voluntary and nonprofit organizations
• central concepts such as charity, philanthropy, volunteering, voluntary and community organizations and sector, nonprofit, third sector, civil society, social capital, corporate philanthropy, ethics, fundraising
• the significance and functions of the nonprofit and voluntary sector in public policy
• relationships of the nonprofit and voluntary sector with government and the private sector
• the role of third sector organizations in national and international level