The International Institute of Metropolis in Montreal organises capacity-building courses devoted to training the managers of the World's metropolises: http://www.iiggm.net

If you wish to obtain more specific information on the courses, you may contact Mr. Amara Ouerghi:

Amara Ouerghi
Director of the International Institute of Metropolis
1550 rue Metcalfe, suite 1400
Montréal (Québec) CANADA H3A 3P1
Phone: 1-514-280-3518 // Fax: 1-514-282-0241
E-mail: aouerghi@ville.montreal.qc.ca

COURSE 2010:

Metropolis Training Institute

Why does Metropolis need a training institute?
Most major cities have developed an open economy and, consequently, are well aware of the necessities of competition and productivity. Growth and globalisation as such are not new; rather, it is the accelerated speed at which they are taking place that sets current and future economic situations apart from the past. This acceleration demands that cities be able to compete both with the private sector as well as with other cities. To this end, the elected representatives, leaders and employees of cities and public bodies in general must be encouraged to upgrade their skills and increase their expertise in order to help their organisation perform better and adapt more easily to new situations. Training has thus become imperative for meeting current and future urban challenges.

Recognising this new reality, Metropolis has created the Metropolis Training Institute. It hopes this initiative will be endorsed by all public bodies and be seen as a necessary effort to promote skills development, a better of quality of life for all citizens, and greater international cooperation.

About the Institute
The Metropolis Training Institute is a non-profit organisation under the guidance of Metropolis, the World Association of the Major Metropolises. In keeping with Metropolis's mission, the Institute gives concrete expression to the members' desire to make training and professional development a genuine priority. The Institute offers applied management training in various urban sectors. This practical and hands-on appreciation training is intended primarily for elected representatives and senior managers involved in areas of urban activity.

Objectives

• To offer training and professional development seminars geared to participants' needs.
• To foster the acquisition of functional competence that can be directly applied to the participants' work.
• To update participants' knowledge and management methods.
• To enable participants to develop professional relationships that will facilitate the carrying out of projects.

Who can attend the Metropolis Training Institute?

• Elected representatives.
• Managers and executives.

Seminars are also available to non-members of Metropolis, such as cities, regions, governments (departments and affiliated corporations), non-government organisations, city/town associations and international organisations.

About the seminars

Regular seminars
The Metropolis Training Institute offers a wide range of seminars related directly to the areas of jurisdiction and activity of public authorities.

Costumised seminars
On request, the Institute can organise training activities tailored to organisations' specific needs:

• Public authorities (cities, regions, governments, etc.)
• International organisations
• Non-governmental organisations
• Commissions Other cities/towns associations

Expertise at your fingertips

• Housing, land use planning and development, transportation and communications, environment, ecology and health
• Finance information systems, geomatics resource management and organisation
• Social development, taxation, infrastructure, public structures
• Cultural Development

Duration of seminars
The dates and duration of seminars depend on such things as participants' position and/or schooling, expectations, time constraints, financial considerations, etc. The Institute therefore offers a flexible training schedule, varying from 2 days to 2 weeks, in accordance with expectations.

Teaching languages
The languages of instruction are French, English and Spanish. If another language becomes necessary for any seminar, the institute will be happy to make simultaneous translation services available. However, the cost of such services will be billed to the client.

Learning approach
The Institute favours practical training that draws on participants' experience. This interactive approach relies on case studies, that is, the examination of everyday situations in order to facilitate the transfer and adaptation of knowledge to the context of participating organisations. Far from proposing a magical formula that can applied across the board, the aim is rather to work in conjunction with clients to devise the most appropriate and best suited training and professional upgrading models possible for the participants' actual workplace. Thus, throughout the training sessions, specialists will help participants resolve their problems using their own projects and the best teaching techniques and tools available.

Teaching methods may vary from one seminar to the next. However, the Institute's specialists rely on effective and proven techniques to ensure the acquisition of knowledge that can be applied in the workplace: dynamic presentations, interactive discussion, practical exercises, case studies, simulation, problem solving and role playing. The Institute has several training and professional development specialists with vast experience in the public and private sectors, at the local, regional, national and international levels, as well as a solid education in their respective fields.

They all have an in-depth knowledge of urban environment, their unique characteristics and, most of all, the challenges they present. Our specialists often serve as consultants to elected representatives, presidents and chief executive officers, director generals and general managers of public and private-sector organisations.

Metropolis Training Institute headquarters, Montreal, Canada
On April 26, 1996, at the General Assembly of Metropolis in Tokyo, Montreal was chosen as the headquarters of the Metropolis Training Institute. The Montreal Urban Community is one of the co-founders of the institute, along with the Conseil regional de Paris-Ile-de-France, and initiated its creation in January 1996. Montreal invested the financial resources necessary to get this important project up and running in a little over a year.

Montreal has much to offer the Institute and its clientele. Its many advantages include:

• High-technology centre ? telecommunications, informatics, electronics, aeronautics, information technology, pharmaceutics, biomedical, etc.
• International financial centre ? headquarters of the major Canadian banks and home to offices of 30 major foreign banks
• Headquarters of consulting firms with an international reputation ? engineering, construction, management, international trade, automation, marketing, etc.
• University town ? 4 universities ? 2 French language ? known the world over, numerous colleges and renowned research institutes
• International crossroads ? home to 51 international organisations
• Cosmopolitan city ? the majority of the population speaks English and French
• Good quality of life, nice surroundings and great atmosphere
• Conditions that favour the Institute's development
• Intellectual resources that guarantee teaching success
• Made-to-order training that combines North American and European approaches
• Quality reception facilities at a competitive price
• Top-quality urban infrastructures and organisations to be discovered as a complement to training

Achievements Metropolis International Institut
Program of activities Metropolis Institut 2008
Program of activities Metropolis Institut 2007