Topic outline

  • The Case Studies form a key learning process of the course, and consists of three main parts: 

    1. Governance analysis of your Case Study
    2. Preparing a Case Study Report 
    3. Presenting your Case Study 

    Each of the Case Studies focuses on a given case at a different geographical scale. The Case Study groups are defined during the first Contact Session on Tuesday 8.1: read the Case Study descriptions below beforehand, and decide on (at least) three Case Studies you would prefer to work on. There will be 4-5 Case Studies, depending on the amount of student participating in the course. 

    The tentative topics for the Case Studies are:

    • Group 1: UN-Water and SDGs 
    • Group 2: Transboundary cooperation in the Mekong River Basin 
    • Group 3: Environmental governance in Finland, with focus on EU-WFD 
    • Group 4: Finnish case (e.g. hydropower or Talvivaara)
    • Group 5: The governance of Helsinki Region Environmental Services Authority HSY 

    For detailed instructions on the Case Study (incl. Case Study Report and presentation), read carefully the instructions below. The aim of the Case Study is to provide a practical example of a particular governance context, and in this way to deepen your understanding of different governance settings. At the same time, the analysis work to be done for the Case Study gives you a possibility to apply a set of governance analysis methods in practice as well as to discuss them with your peers. 

    The Governance Analysis Methods session on Thu 10.1 will -together with Case Study Sessions on Thursdays- be particularly important for your Case Study. The methods session will introduce you the key methods to apply in your Case Study, while in other sessions you can plan and carry out your Case Study analysis together with your group. 

    Case Study Sessions: timetable

    The Case Study Sessions include actual Case Study presentations during Week 7 as well as Case Study Sessions and Workshops that helps you to plan and carry out your Case Study. The sessions are mainly on Thursdays.



    • These instructions go through the three key parts of the Case Study Governance analysis, Case Study Report + presentation): read carefully! 


    • Information slides about the Case Study, presented in Case Study Session on Thursday 10.1.

    • Slides from the Case Study Presentations on Tue 12.2 and Thu 14.2, presenting also some general remarks related to your analysis.

    • Forum icon
      Submission of your group's Rules Forum
      Not available unless: You are a(n) Student

      Submit the Rules of your group to this discussion group by adding a new discussion topic with heading "Group #: our rules" and writing rules directly as a text or as an attachment to your discussion. Remember to include also ways to handle conflict situations in your group.

      Note that your rules are visible to all students participating the course: you are thus encouraged to read also other groups' rules and adapt them into your own use! 



    • Forum icon
      Submission of your Case Study Report and presentation Forum
      Not available unless: You are a(n) Student

      Submit the reports (Draft Report and Final Report) as well as the presentation of your Case Study to this Discussion Forum by starting a new discussion with title "Group #: XXX" (XXX is name of your case study) and attaching the report/presentation to the discussion (if you use Prezi or GoogleSlides, include a link to Prezi but also attach a .pdf file of your presentation). As they are used to assess your work, ensure that all group members are content with the report and/or presentation before submission. 

      Deadline for submitting the Draft Report is by 9 am of your Case Study Session day. Also submit your presentation before the session. Deadline for submitting the Final Report is at the end of the course i.e. Sunday February 24th. 

      Note that your reports and presentation are visible to all course participants. 

      Giving group's comments on the presentation

      After each presentation, other groups write their Key Points (3-5) related to the presented Case Study as a reply to the presentation thread: the Key Points must include both Methodological and Content-Specific Key Points. The group in question should then use these Key Points as a help and reference when revising their Draft Report.