About us
Slovenia after successfully concluded pre-accession negotiations, has become a full-fledged Member State of the European Union with effect from May 1st 2004, despite the fact that only a decade ago we were an integral part of SFR Yugoslavia. After opting for independence, with enormous efforts, Slovenia has succeeded in adopting European standards and legal instruments in all relevant fields, including Public Administration. In the light of the ongoing social, political, economic and many other kinds of transformations that characterize our century, Public Administration has the mission to create conditions to elevate standards of living for the citizens, businesses, and other parts of the society to live better in this contemporarily dynamic, and ever-changing world of globalization. In order to fulfil this role, Public Administration should in particular be able to adapt and appropriately respond to new demands and challenges.
In such circumstances IPS Institute is the partner capable of acting as an advisor and facilitator with the capacity to assist clients in finding and implementing the best suitable solutions. Such assistance is directed in the first place towards proper training of civil servants, adaptation of legal systems, as well as institution building and development. This refers particularly to the countries of South-Eastern Europe, which will have to stabilise domestic situation and later on negotiate their accession to the European Union and other Euro-Atlantic institutional structures. Our experts, on top of having fresh experiences with the Slovene pre-accession process, fully understand the legal systems and administrative backgrounds of the countries in this region, this being true especially for the Balkan Countries. Even more so, we understand the culture of the people living in this region and we can communicate with them in their own languages. In this way we are able to gain their trust, respect and active involvement. This is why our assistance will become indispensable in Technical Assistance Projects which will have to be executed in this region during the coming years.
IPS Institute is a specialized institute active in the field of Public Administration. Our objective is to enable exchange of cutting edge knowledge and accumulated experiences – in all possible directions and forms. We are capable of assisting the Countries of the Region – together with our partners - to start moving from the side of poverty and enormous social tensions to the developed and prosperous side of Europe. Being aware of our present position, as well as of our historical and cultural ties with the Balkans and other countries of the region, we are keen to see ourselves as a bridge that can support them in starting the moving towards desired stability and prosperity.
We at IPS Institute are dedicated to the Public Administration best values and practices. Our expertise, experiences and skills, as well as the practically proven methods and results of work, provide Governments and other decision-makers with means to enhance efficiency of their organisations and to better assess the true impact of their policies. Thus, we offer our full expertise and active commitment to reach the objectives, which are always first agreed upon with our clients and beneficiaries .
Dr. Slobodan Dujić
Director
The mission of IPS Institute is to make its accumulated extensive theoretical expertise and practical experience in the field of Public Administration, Administrative Law, Civil Service Development and European Integration - gained in Slovenia and internationally - available to the emerging Countries of South-Eastern Europe, which need to rebuild and develop their Public Administrations up to a high level of effectiveness and efficiency i.e. to the level of 'Good Governance'.
IPS Institute is a privately owned institution, thus being committed to make things happen and to pursue high standards of commitment and professionalism. Bearing this in mind, the institute guarantees a sense of new administrative culture.
IPS Institute is an independent institute carrying out Research, Technical Assistance Projects and Training in the field of Public Administration and European Integration. The operation of institute aims to provide a variety of services to interested Governments and other potential stakeholders. In this respect, the fact is that the Balkan Countries represent an emerging region where IPS Institute will be able to fulfil its mission and vision in the best possible way.
IPS Institute was established as a Private Non-Profit Institute under Slovenian Law, with legal seat in Ljubljana. The institute has started its operations recently, but consultants working with the Institute were for many decades moving forces and members of the Slovenian Academia and Senior Civil Service. The same refers to the consultants from other regions of Europe.
Being a link with Slovenian and European “Administrative Space”, IPS Institute acts as one of the driving forces behind an impressive growth and development in Slovenia during recent years. Institute functioning has been planned in a rather 'virtual' form, meaning that the intention is to keep the institutional structure flexible and demand-driven. This concept goes hand in hand with the fact that we can constantly draw from Slovenian and Europe-wide top level expertise and best practices. In such a way we are able to transfer accumulated expertise, experiences and practical skills in the field of Public Administration, Administrative Law, and European Integration Processes to all interested clients and beneficiaries. Rather than relying on heavy institutional structures, we are ready to make possible flexible and rapid reactions to ever more complex problems of the contemporary Public Administration. This is exactly the logic behind IPS Institute's operation: rather than trying to “cover everything”, we will connect Slovenian and West European expertise and experience with demands and needs of South-East European (especially the Balkan) Countries. For this end, IPS Institute is ideally placed and ready to make intended changes happen.
IPS Institute has an advantage of having a direct access to public institutions and knowledge centers in Slovenia, Western European Countries, and not least important, in the South-Eastern European Countries. Institute's ties with the political circles and civil servants on all levels are as excellent as links with Academia, Research Centers and Individual Experts. Therefore, Institute can effectively assist potential clients and beneficiaries directly, or, instead of being directly involved, just find appropriate suppliers of services and in such a way enable the so-called twinning arrangements and professional links between clients and suppliers to be set up.
Slovenia is, without any doubt, an impressively dynamic European country. Lying in the heart of Europe, the country has made in recent years a sustainable social progress, at the same time being able to secure political stability and constantly raise economic well-being of its citizens. As a "successful story", Slovenia today represents a solid and stable integral part of Europe. Its GDP per capita has already reached the level of some developed European Union Member States. Explanation of such a success could be summarized in few key words: vitality, openness, market orientation and economic flexibility.
Being located at the crossroads of Western, Central, and South-Eastern Europe, Slovenia has important historical, cultural and economic ties with the countries of Balkan region. This is why Slovenia will most effectively support the process aimed at spreading space of stability and prosperity towards the South.
Considerable growth of Slovene economy during recent years has been underpinned by progress in the field of Public Administration as well. In this respect Slovenia has succeeded in introducing European standards and bringing its Public Administration into the so-called "European Administrative Space".
If one wants to benefit from rich expertise and experiences of Slovenia and Western European Countries - and this is especially important for the Balkan Countries - IPS Institute is an ideal partner for reaching such an objective. The Institute co-operates with a pool of excellent experts in the field of Public Administration, who were at the same time the pillars of Slovene accession to the European Union. Similarly, it has established sincere partner relations with many important institutions and experts from Western and Eastern European Countries. And last but not least important, the Institute succeeded in setting up excellent professional relations with many prominent institutions and individual experts from the Countries of South-Eastern Europe. Therefore, for many reasons, IPS Institute is an ideal partner able to assist and support these countries on their "way to Europe".