CAS TPP: Policy Process

Learning objectives

The CAS in Technology and Public Policy (TPP): Policy Process degree equips participants with essential skills in public policy analysis. The primary focus lies on how to systematically analyse, design and manage policy-making processes.

As shown in the below figure, the CAS TPP: Policy Process focuses on the interface between politics (the input into the policy process) and policy (the output of the policy process, such as laws and regulations) in public policy analysis.

The learning objectives of the CAS TPP: Policy Process degree are to equip participants with skills that are essential for:

• analysing how public institutions function and how policy choices are made;
• managing policy-making processes and communicating effectively with policy-makers, stakeholders, and the public.
  

The programme combines general skills in policy analysis with opportunities to apply these skills to the policy issues that interest programme participants or to problems that are relevant in their professional settings (e.g., mobility, energy, public health, the digital space, urban planning, environment / sustainability, security).

Structure & Schedule

The CAS TPP: Policy Process degree is only offered in the spring semester of uneven years (e.g., 2025, 2027), taking place between the end of January and the middle of June.

The degree consists of three modules that are taught in 21 days of in-person classes, organised into approximately 10 blocks of two or three days each. The programme is worth 15 ECTS, which equals around 450 hours of workload in total. The credits reflect the total workload, including preparation and follow-up. Please note that the individual submodules and lectures can be subject to change.

Technological innovation is seldom entirely market-driven but often requires policy intervention. This module will introduce the participants into the literature that aims to understand technology and the underlying markets and its interaction with policy and its underlying politics. Besides an academic perspective, it will introduce practitioners working at the technology-policy interface.

Citizens, consumers, firms, and other stakeholders play an important role in designing and implementing policies that affect and/or are affected by technology. This module enables participants to understand what role public opinion and behavioural approaches play in policy design and implementation, and to systematically design and analyse citizen and stakeholder participation in policy-making.

This module enables participants to understand and assess political communication and information-processing techniques, strategies and activities. It also enables them to identify different negotiation situations and apply respective negotiation approaches. These are important skills in order to effectively co-design policies through collaboration between scientists and political practitioners.