Transparency International Alumni Inspire Anti-Corruption Initiatives in their Native Countries

The Black Sea Trust for Regional Cooperation (BST) awarded the Transparency International Lithuania Chapter a grant to bring 15 representatives from Black Sea countries to the fourth edition of the Regional Summer School on Transparency and Integrity.

The summer school took place in July 2013 at Mykolas Romeris University in Vilnius and brought together 128 students and young professionals from 56 countries to provide them with an opportunity to learn first-hand from professionals working in the anti-corruption field.

One of the alumni of the school was Cristian Botan, an entrepreneur, junior academic, and advisor for the Chancellery of the Prime-Minister of Romania. He wanted to increase the number of people applying for jobs in the Romanian public sector, but found that favoritism and a lack of transparency were hindering potential jobseekers.

He set up a website compiling all the public-sector jobs available from ministries to city halls in Bucharest. After the website’s launch, the number of applicants jumped from five to about fifty applicants per job listing.

Botan said the school helped propel his website forward and make it an official initiative adopted by the Romanian government. “I think the school is fundamental in creating the next generation of anti-corruption fighters,” said Botan.

Summer school guest speakers and students came from Northern, Western, Central and Eastern Europe; North, Central and Latin America; the Maghreb, etc., making the event a platform of true intercontinental and international exchange of expertise. The teaching staff provided students with an opportunity to learn from leading anti-corruption professionals on different perspectives on fighting corruption and various experiences and ways in which different regions deal with corruption.

The summer school staff also offered students state-of-the-art professional guidance and compelling case studies showing how long-term sustainability can be achieved through transparency and integrity. It created an environment that brought discussions about transparency and integrity from a high public policy level into the classroom and everyday life of students.

“The summer school contributed to regional cooperation by bringing together young people from the Black Sea countries but also from Central and Eastern Europe and other regions, to exchange experiences, thoughts, and ideas about how to fight corruption and to learn more about integrity and transparency,” said Dinu Toderescu, a BST program officer. “The project contributed to the creation of agents of change who would attempt to play positive roles in their countries’ transformation process.”

The summer school contributed to a greater awareness of youth leaders for anti-corruption and integrity issues. It also fostered greater public exposure for the issue of anti-corruption education and its importance, and allowed for the identification and subsequent engagement of youth leaders interested in anti-corruption in longer-term activities through the network of summer school alumni.

Sergejus Muravjovas, executive director of Transparency International Lithuania, says one of the key elements of the school is learning from a diverse group of peers. “The best way to learn is not from a lecture or books, but from interacting with peers,” he said. 

“The school has outgrown all expectations,” Muravjovas said. “It attracts a pool of different people and experience you wouldn’t expect.”

The school was taught by a mix of practitioners and visionaries, including the head of Transparency International and the founder and executive director of the Center for Anti-corruption Research and Initiatives/TI Russia.

The school’s method of anti-corruption is spreading all over the world. There are now Russian-speaking and Arabic-speaking schools and initiatives in Cambodia, Vietnam, Portugal, and Papua New Guinea.