Introduction to Public Policy
What public policy is and how it differs from law, plan and programme — the vocabulary every later module depends on.
PGT Certifications/Level 1/Foundation
PGT 100 · Level 1 · Understand
PGT Foundation
Introduction to Policy, Governance and National Transformation
The entry point to the PGT certification pathway. Foundation establishes the principles of sound public governance, the Sustainable Development Goals, the policy lifecycle and the relationship between governance and development — free, self-paced, and open to anyone who wants to understand how nations are actually governed.
Free
Self-paced · Level 1 of 5
Built on two definitive references — the OECD Policy Framework on Sound Public Governance and the UN 2030 Agenda.
- Course code
- PGT 100
- Primary focus
- Awareness and principles
- Duration
- Free · self-paced
- Modules
- 8 modules
- Body of knowledge
- 2 definitive references
About the certification
Start with the principles.
Everything else builds on them.
Foundation answers the questions that rarely get asked out loud in a ministry corridor, because everyone assumes everyone else already knows the answer.
What does sound public governance actually mean in practice? What are the Sustainable Development Goals, and what do they ask of the office you sit in? Where does a policy travel between the idea and the result — and where in that lifecycle do good intentions usually die?
The certification is built on two definitive references: the OECD Policy Framework on Sound Public Governance and the United Nations 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development. Together these two documents provide the conceptual foundation for policy, governance and sustainable development — so what you learn here is not one institution's opinion, but the standard the rest of the world works from.
It closes by introducing the PGT Framework itself — the three pillars and integrated approach that every later level of the pathway is built on.
Better ideas lead to better policies. This is where the better ideas begin.
Learning objectives
- Explain the principles of sound public governance
- Understand the Sustainable Development Goals
- Describe the policy lifecycle
- Explain the relationship between governance and development
- Understand the PGT Framework
Target audience
Built for anyone who cares how nations are run
Foundation is written for those beginning in public service and for everyone outside it whose work depends on understanding how government thinks.
New public servants
Officers early in a public service career who want the principles behind the work they already do.
Graduate trainees
Those entering government service and preparing for their first policy responsibilities.
Civil society & NGOs
Practitioners who engage government and need to speak its language with confidence.
University students
Students of public administration, political science, economics, law and development.
Researchers
Analysts and academics who need the applied governance frameworks alongside the theory.
Development practitioners
Programme staff aligning their work with national systems, priorities and the SDGs.
Where Foundation sits
PGT Foundation is Level 1 of the five-level PGT pathway and the recommended starting point. It is free and self-paced, and completing it prepares you to progress to PGT Executive.
Course outline
Eight modules, in sequence
From what public policy is, to the standards the world works from, to the framework the rest of the PGT pathway is built on.
OECD Sound Public Governance
The OECD Policy Framework in full: the values, enablers and instruments that separate governments that deliver from governments that announce.
UN Sustainable Development Goals
The 2030 Agenda and the 17 Goals with their targets — what they commit governments to, and how national plans align to them.
Public Governance Values
Integrity, transparency, accountability and openness — and what each looks like in the daily conduct of a public institution.
Public Policy Lifecycle
How a policy actually moves, from problem to design to implementation to evaluation and renewal — and the points where it most often fails.
Governance Institutions
Who does what across the executive, legislature, judiciary, civil service and oversight bodies, and how authority is distributed between them.
National Transformation
What transformation means beyond reform: converting policy into measurable improvements in economic performance, services and citizen wellbeing.
Introduction to the PGT Framework
The three pillars — policy, governance and transformation — and the integrated approach every later PGT certification is built on.
Body of knowledge
Two definitive references
Foundation teaches from global standards rather than local opinion. Every later PGT level carries these two forward and adds to them.
Policy Framework on Sound Public Governance
The reference framework for how governments organise themselves to deliver: values and integrity, policy coherence, capable institutions, and the instruments that turn intent into service.
Transforming Our World: the 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development
The universal development compact adopted by member states — the 17 Sustainable Development Goals, their targets, and the commitment to leave no one behind.
The reference base deepens at every level. Foundation begins with 2 definitive references; Executive works from approximately 12, Practitioner from 20+, Professional from 30+ and Leader from 40+ — each level carrying everything below it.
The PGT Framework
Three pillars, introduced in module eight
Pillar one
Policy
Determines what should be done — evidence-based, inclusive, future-focused decisions that guide national development.
Pillar two
Governance
Determines how it is managed — the institutions, leadership, accountability and financial systems that turn policy into action.
Pillar three
Transformation
Determines whether lasting results are achieved — disciplined implementation, monitoring, evaluation and continuous improvement.
Learning outcomes
What you leave with
By the end of PGT Foundation you can hold your own in any serious conversation about governance and development — and you know exactly what to learn next.
- Understand modern public governance
- Understand policy formulation
- Appreciate sustainable development
- Explain the relationship between governance and development
- Understand the PGT Framework and its three pillars
- Progress to PGT Executive certification
TN
PGT Foundation Certification
Level 1 of the five-level Policy, Governance and Transformation certification pathway.
- Course code PGT 100 · primary focus: awareness and principles
- Free and self-paced
- Built on 2 definitive global references
- The first rung of the PGT pathway
Where it leads
Understand, then apply
The five levels move from understanding governance to shaping nations. Each is a complete certification in its own right.
PGT Executive
Strategic Policy, Governance and Public Sector Performance — five days for directors, commissioners, heads of department and senior policy officers, working from approximately 12 global references across integrity, regulatory and budgetary governance, digital and open government, and SDG integration.
PGT FoundationYou are here · Understand
Questions
Before you register
Is PGT Foundation really free?
Yes. Foundation is free and self-paced. It exists so that cost is never the reason a capable person is locked out of the fundamentals of public governance.
What does self-paced mean in practice?
You work through the eight modules in your own time, in sequence, around the demands of your role or studies. There is no fixed cohort schedule at this level.
What exactly will I be studying?
Two definitive references: the OECD Policy Framework on Sound Public Governance and the UN 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development. Together they provide the conceptual foundation for policy, governance and sustainable development.
Do I need to continue to PGT Executive afterwards?
Foundation is a complete certification in its own right. If you do continue, it is Level 1 of the five-level pathway and prepares you directly for Executive, which moves from understanding the principles to applying them.
Can my organisation register a group?
Ministries, agencies, universities, NGOs and companies wanting to put a group through Foundation should contact the programme team, who will set it up.
Is the certification relevant outside Nigeria?
Yes. Foundation teaches from the OECD and UN frameworks, which are global standards adopted across governments worldwide, and the wider PGT pathway is explicitly continental through African Union Agenda 2063.