Implementation project 2100-SPP-L-D4IMPR

This fully practical course gives students the opportunity to apply the knowledge and skills they have gained throughout their studies to a real-world project. Students will be tasked with designing and planning the implementation of a service/product in a selected area of policy. The project will require group work, and the topic and policy area will be chosen during the first meeting. The course emphasizes the development of project management skills, starting with problem framing and agenda setting, followed by planning, consulting, and execution. Throughout the project, students will select and utilize appropriate tools for its implementation, applying their understanding of social policy design in a practical setting.
The project involves interactions with potential service/product users (e.g., interviews, workshops, consultations, user tests) and with policy stakeholders (product owners, department directors, officials, representatives of CSOs, and private companies). The course culminates in a presentation, where students will showcase their project results in front of stakeholders and community representatives (product/service users). The end result of the course will be an evaluated implementation plan for the proposed products/services. The course is complementary to the “Public Services’ Design” course.

The course is entirely practical and project-based, and constitutes an advanced form of applying the theoretical and methodological knowledge acquired during studies in the field of social and public policy. Its aim is to develop competences related to the design, planning, and implementation of solutions that respond to real social and institutional problems.

Students work in teams to prepare and implement a project involving the design and planning of the implementation of a service, product, program, or intervention in a selected area of public policy. The topics of the projects focus on key contemporary challenges, such as the protection of human rights, counteracting disinformation and fake news, strengthening social resilience, supporting marginalized groups, counteracting social exclusion, and reducing social harm resulting from inequality, polarization, and information crises.

An important element of the course is cooperation with non-governmental organizations operating in Poland, in particular those that implement innovative activities for human rights, civic education, counteracting disinformation, protecting vulnerable groups, and implementing new solutions in the area of social and public policies. Students engage in contact with practitioners, institutional stakeholders, representatives of public administration, and potential users of the designed solutions.

Projects can cover a wide range of topics and take various organizational and operational forms. They can be implemented in a digital environment (e.g., online tools, educational platforms, information and fact-checking campaigns) or offline (e.g., local activities, social workshops, pilot programs, interventions targeting excluded groups). The flexibility of the form allows projects to be tailored to the specific nature of the problem, the needs of stakeholders, and the available resources.

The course develops competencies in public sector project management, including problem definition and policy prioritization, stakeholder analysis, public consultation, intervention design, selection of research and design tools, and the preparation of evidence-based implementation strategies. Students use qualitative and quantitative methods, work with end users (e.g., through interviews, workshops, user tests), and analyze the institutional and political conditions of the implementation process.

The final result of the course is the implementation of a project in a form appropriate to its nature and objectives, e.g., the implementation of a digital tool, the launch of a social campaign, the implementation of direct actions for marginalized groups, the preparation of a pilot intervention, or the development of practical recommendations for public institutions and social organizations.

The course can be treated as a form of “sociology in action,” combining academic reflection with direct involvement in processes of social change. Students not only analyze social problems, but also actively co-create and test solutions that respond to the real needs of communities and public institutions. This approach fosters the development of critical thinking, ethical responsibility, research skills, and the ability to design and implement evidence-based social and public policies.

The course complements other courses offered during the program, deepening students' practical skills in the design and implementation of innovative public services and social interventions.