Short courses
Discover our short courses to gain practical knowledge of tools, concepts and practices to drive innovation in government.
Explore: About | Course structure | What you will learn | Who this course is for | Teaching team | More information
About our short courses
Our hybrid online and in-person short courses give you the unique building blocks, tools, and knowledge from the UCL Institute for Innovation and Public Purpose needed to make your work in missions-oriented government a success.
We lead the world in rethinking the role of the state to build effective mission-oriented government that works. The UCL Institute for Innovation and Public Purpose brings a length and breadth of applied, hands-on experience of working with governments adopting the mission approach—and now we’re offering an exclusive opportunity for a small number of participants to join our short courses designed to support policy practitioners and public sector professionals in the practical application of this approach.
Our first short course will run in Autumn 2025. If you wish to receive more information register at the link below.
Register for updatesWhat you will learn
Our short courses will give you the dynamic skills required for purpose-driven organisations—in public, private, and civil sectors—to confront the grand challenges of the 21st century. Tackling these challenges requires new ways of thinking and new organisational capabilities. As an alum of this applied learning programme, you will be equipped to help reshape organisations to be mission-led, experimental, and driven by public purpose.
Taught by leading faculty and our collaborating government leaders from around the world, you will learn the core content needed to create your own mission-oriented projects, applying this knowledge to your own work, with feedback loops throughout the course, working with key peers from across government.
At the UCL Institute for Innovation and Public Purpose, we work with a number of organisations to build tailored applied learning courses, incorporating our core IIPP DNA:
- Public value and public purpose
- Grand challenges and systems change
- Transformation by design
- Creative bureaucracies
- Digital transformation in government
- New economic thinking
Who this course is for
- Senior public officials at the national, devolved, regional, and local levels
- Senior leaders working on the success of missions in other sectors, including the third sector.
Short course teaching team
Director and Professor in the Economics of Innovation and Public Value
Mariana Mazzucato (PhD) is Professor in the Economics of Innovation and Public Value at University College London (UCL), where she is Founding Director of the UCL Institute for Innovation & Public Purpose (IIPP). Her current roles include being Chair of the World Health Organization's Council on the Economics of Health for All and a member of the Scottish Government’s Council of Economic Advisors.
Deputy Director and Professor of Innovation and Public Governance
Rainer Kattel is Deputy Director and Professor of Innovation and Public Governance at the UCL Institute for Innovation and Public Purpose (IIPP). Professor Kattel has also served on various public policy commissions, including the Estonian Research Council and European Science Foundation. He has worked as an expert for the OECD, UNDP and the European Commission.
Deputy Director for Strategy and Operations and Associate Professor in Digital Governance
Previously a lecturer at Harvard Kennedy School where he teaches and writes on digital era public administration, digital transformation and the governance of digital public infrastructure, David has also co-founded Teaching Public Service in a Digital Age, which has sought to bring together faculty from around the world to co-design and share an open licensed curriculum to teach the minimum needed digital competences for future public leaders.
Contact us
Can't find what you're looking for? Contact the Applied Learning team.
Applied Learning team at the UCL Institute for Innovation and Public Purpose
Click to email. iipp-shortcourses@ucl.ac.uk