Master in Public Procurement Management for Sustainable Development

The International Training Centre of the International Labour Organization (ITC- ILO) in partnership with the University of Turin (Faculties of Law and Economics) & UNCITRAL (UN Commission on International Trade Law) offers this Master in Public Procurement Management for Sustainable Development that explores the legislative, regulatory, organizational and managerial foundations of a modern Public Procurement System. The programme is designed as a blended learning opportunity that combines policy/theory prescriptions with applied assignments and research work. It provides participants with direct access to expertise from academia, international organizations, think tanks and the private sector. It prepares them for a range of executive and managerial functions connected with public procurement management and its supervision.

Over the past decades sound public procurement management has become a key milestone of good governance and national progress. Its significance for social and economic development is reflected in the fact that it constitutes a sizeable proportion of the national economy (15 to 30 per cent of national GDP). It is a valuable instrument for the promotion of environmental protection and “pro-social equity” policies and has, historically, been used by governments to encourage more equitable economic growth. More recently, with the onset of “climate change”, relentless advance of globalization and the increased role of the private sector in governance, public procurement has emerged as an important market-based incentive for promoting Corporate Social Responsibility (CSR). Through public procurement, governments can “raise the bar” for the respect of labour and environmental standards by all market operators, thereby improving the “quality of jobs” and facilitating the achievement of national sustainable development goals. Hence the term “sustainable procurement”

Public procurement has evolved from a simple routine clerical function conducted within an isolated department of a ministry into a key function of the government’s “corporate management”. Today’s procurement professionals have to deal with increasingly dynamic markets, rapidly evolving technologies and ever-more complex legal and contractual frameworks. In addition to compliance with prescribed regulatory obligations, procurement practitioners also have to demonstrate their governments’ adherence to international agreements in human rights, labour and the environment as well as mitigation of corruption. Reconciling the tension between the aforementioned sustainability objectives and the framework of international trade agreements, while respecting the primary obligations of “best value for money”, transparency and accountability, requires an array of new competencies in procurement.

This program carefully interweaves all these knowledge areas and corresponding application competencies throughout the procurement process for goods, works and services.

Since 1991, the International Training Centre of the ILO has offered postgraduate learning opportunities in disciplines of interest to an international audience of recent graduates and career professionals.

Over the last 10 years and in partnership with UN agencies and academic institutions, the Turin School of Development gradually expanded its portfolio of Masters and other Postgraduate Programmes. In Academic Year 2019-2020, ten programs are offered as follows:

• LL.M in International Trade Law
• LL.M in Intellectual Property
• Master in Management of Development
• Master of World Heritage and Cultural Projects for Development
• Master in Public Procurement Management for Sustainable Development
• Master of Applied Labour Economics for Development
• Master in Occupational Safety and Health in the Workplace
• Master's Programme in Industrial and Employment Relations
• Master in Social Innovation for Sustainable Development
• Master en gouvernance et management des marchés publics en appui au développement durable (delivered in French)

The Turin School of Development has developed a solid reputation for being truly international in the management, design, and delivery of these programs. Each program is co-managed by an international organization in its field of competence and the learning modules are delivered by a faculty of prominent professors, senior experts, and practitioners from around the globe.

The goal of our Masters and Postgraduate Programmes Our objective is to provide multi-disciplinary postgraduate learning opportunities with targeted content and effective delivery modalities which are conducive to imparting the essential competencies needed for dealing with today’s social, economic, and environmental priorities at national and global levels. The learning offers of the Turin School of Development are not intended to be in direct competition with similar programs offered by universities. They are selected and designed with a perspective of “differentiation” through a combination of features like:

• full involvement of specialized UN agencies and distinguished professional bodies in program design, delivery, and supervision.
• the intensive delivery that meets the learning requirements of a European Master; this is possible through an optimal combination of distance learning with face-to-face interaction, applied project development, and research work.
• comprehensive coverage of the full range of technical competencies and professional skills for specific jobs in today’s knowledge economy.
• the possibility of an internship with one of our institutional UN or professional partners.