BRIDGE Strategic Planning Workshop for PIANZEA Electoral Officials

The Australian Electoral Commission (AEC), the Pacific Islands, Australia and New Zealand Electoral Administrators Network (PIANZEA), with International IDEA, are cooperating in a 4-day workshop based on the ‘Strategic Planning for Effective Electoral Management’ Module of the ‘Building Resources in Democracy, Governance and Elections’ (BRIDGE) Training curriculum.

The BRIDGE Workshop will be facilitated online (each day will include four hours of facilitated online learning) and will gather select senior-level officials of several of the electoral management bodies (EMB) members of the PIANZEA Network, from the EMBs of Fiji, Solomon Islands, Timor Leste, Tokelau, Tonga and Vanuatu.

The workshop has been adjusted to be delivered through an online facilitation modality and tailored to the diverse levels of awareness and knowledge of strategic planning in electoral management of the various participants, as well as to meet their different interests and needs. Starting with a general theoretical session to establish an even learning environment for all participants, the workshop will then shift its focus onto a practical approach guiding them through the various steps (and related outputs) of the Strategic Planning Cycle methodology.

The workshop will be facilitated by:

• Ross Attrill, Senior BRIDGE Facilitator and consultant for the AEC;
• Sara Staino, Assistant Director for the National Training & Education Unit of the AEC;
• Darren McNair, Divisional Returning Officer from the AEC; and
• Antonio Spinelli, Senior Advisor for International IDEA’s Regional Office for Asia and the Pacific will provide technical knowledge and support as a strategic planning expert.

The Workshop intends to strengthen the participants’ understanding of key elements and steps in the strategic planning methodology outlined in the BRIDGE Module, which they could then employ in their respective operating contexts.