Widening The Vision Of Governance – UK Style

As India's growth story unfolds in a globalised world, it is important for us to be up to date with the world's best governance models, and thereby carry out required reforms in our governance structures. This would mean acquiring a detailed know-how of the best-performing models in the world, and take cues from them to fine-tune our own policies and governance systems. Without this, some aspects of our growth story might remain handicapped.

To make this possible and to learn from the experiences of other countries, Vision India Foundation has designed the World Governance Expedition that puts together a delegation of select, bright individuals who understand international best practices in government and how they can be adapted. During our last edition in 2016, a delegation from across the world went to the United States to observe the governance ecosystem. Their experiences can be read here.

The upcoming World Governance Expedition will be undertaken between 10 and 20 September 2017 to the UK. The delegation will meet policy makers from the country and interact with them to understand how one of the world’s leading nations deals with the issues of policy and governance. The interactions will cover the entire spectrum of policy makers including senior executives in the government, elected representatives, policy researchers, civil society organisations, senior bureaucrats, think-tanks, all party parliamentary groups civil society organisations, academicians and key government officials.

Interactions on multiple issues, with the different stakeholders will give insights on how the government functions. The delegates will also observe and understand a variety of public utilities, such as health systems, public transport, etc, which make the life of UK citizens comfortable at the local level.

These 10 days will be those of intense learning, networking, brainstorming and fun.

The delegation will travel across four cities of the UK, and interact with 10 plus policy leaders. It will also interact with civil society, academicians and the local populace to gain a holistic understanding of the governance ecosystem.

The list of projects can be seen here.

Who comprise the delegation? Social and political leaders, policy professionals including researchers and public officials, entrepreneurs and social entrepreneurs, university students, young policy enthusiasts, non-profit professionals, journalists, and explorers.

Applications for the expedition are open to Indian citizens as well as those from other countries. Every country has something to learn from other countries and a diverse international delegation supports a lot of peer learning. The programme costs Rs1,95,000 including domestic travel, stay, food, course material, event tickets etc. It does not include the international air travel. Scholarships are available for deserving candidates. Details of the selection process are provided here. For more details, visit the programme website.

About the Organisation:

Vision India Foundation (VIF) is a nation-building movement which engages bright young minds on issues related to policy and governance. It was started by alumni and faculty members of various IITs. The organisation has worked with state governments, elected representatives, quasi-government organizations, politicians and much more. Through programmes like Policy BootCamp, Good Governance Yatra, and World Governance Expedition, VIF trains youth who it believes can lead the change in the country. More details are here.