Milan Summer School 2012 on Cost-Benefit Analysis

11 - 14 September 2012 - Milan

OBJECTIVE: The school will focus on the ex ante appraisal (Cost Benefit Analysis) of investment projects asking for co-financing under Structural Funds, Cohesion Fund and Instrument for Pre Accession. The specific objectives are to present the methodology of Cost Benefit Analysis, to provide operational examples in the application of the methodology, to explain why Cost Benefit Analysis is one of the most important tools in the programming period 2007 - 2013 of the Cohesion Policy, and to practice on how to review a project's feasibility study. By the end of the course, participants will have acquired theoretical knowledge on the elaboration of a Cost Benefit Analysis and practical experience through the review and assessment of a case study.

FACULTY: All lecturers invited participated in the preparation of the new edition of the Guide to Cost Benefit Analysis of Investment Projects of the European Commission, DG Regional Policy, with professor Massimo Florio (University of Milan) as Scientific Director. Speakers include:
- Francesco Maria Angelini (JASPERS)
- Ugo Finzi (CSIL)
- Massimo Florio (University of Milan)
- Byron Kabarakis (European Commission, DG Regional Policy)
- Silvia Maffii (TRT Trasporti e Territorio)
- Davide Sartori (CSIL)
- Silvia Vignetti (CSIL)

To know more about the speakers see the Lecturers page at: http://www.csilmilano.com/Summer-School/Lecturers.html

TARGET: The school is designed for professionals and young researchers who are dealing with the programme and project management of EU Funds and for decision makers of major projects in the fields of transport, environment, industry, energy and telecommunication. Practitioners in managing authorities, intermediate bodies and beneficiaries eligible under EU Funds, as well as consulting firms, NGOs and SMEs are invited to participate. A mixed audience with practitioners coming from different institutions (institutional and non) is particularly welcome.

METHOD: Apart from traditional training methods, used during the first half of the training (face-to-face presentations on the theory and the methodology of Cost Benefit Analysis, including concrete examples and extracts from application forms of projects asking for EU co-financing), an interactive and practical approach will be applied. After the closure of the morning sessions, participants will work in 6 groups on project case studies, by practicing on how to review a feasibility study and how to report the results of their appraisal. More in detail, training activities will rely on the following methodological patterns:
- Face-to-face lectures (morning). These presentations will focus on the theory of Cost Benefit Analysis and the six analytical steps that a project examiner should consider for investment appraisal under the EU Funds: 1. Context analysis and Project objectives; 2. Project identification; 3. Feasibility and Option analysis; 4. Financial analysis; 5. Economic analysis; 6. Risk assessment. Presentations will be structured in such a way to provide for each step the methodological approach, some examples extracted from application forms, and a check list for the project appraiser.
- Hands-on sessions (afternoon). For the hands-on sessions participants will be divided into small groups and assigned a case study, a specific project they will analyse in depth. Some mistakes and pitfalls will be discovered by the participants themselves by reviewing the project description and the spreadsheets with main calculations, following a pre-established check list. The groups will prepare, by the end of the course, a brief technical note and a presentation to report their main findings. Discussions with the experts and the other groups will follow and each case study will be examined in a plenary session in order to shed light on how to improve the quality of the feasibility study.
- Project experiences of the participants. The approach of the training will be strongly interactive. Participants are welcomed to bring their personal experiences with practical examples of projects they might had come across in their professional experience. This proves to be a good way to have a discussion on practical problems in the application of the methodology to Cost Benefit Analysis of Investment Projects asking for EU co-financing.

FURTHER INFORMATION: For further information on training organisation and activities please download the Preliminary Programme at: http://www.csilmilano.com/Summer-School/downlds/Preliminary-Programme.pdf

APPLICATION PROCEDURE: To apply, please go to: http://www.csilmilano.com/Summer-School/Summer-School.php