Welcome to the Role and Responsibilities Representatives course brought to you by Donegal Public Participation Network (PPN). We hope you find course content helpful.

Course Overview

In this short course, we take a practical look at the role of a PPN Representative and how PPN members can help inform Donegal County Council policies.

Target Audience

This course is designed to meet the needs of existing and newly appointed PPN Representatives, Council Officials and County Councillors.

Course Structure

The course is divided into 6 component parts and take approximately 2 hours to review. Lesson topics are self-contained to facilitate micro-learning for the time conscious participant. You are not required to complete all lessons in one sitting. You may access the course as often as you wish until all topics are complete.

Lesson 1: Public Participation Networks

This lesson explains the purpose of Public Participation Networks and the role they are intended to play in Council policy formation.

Topic 1: Donegal PPN Constitution

Lesson 2: PPN Representatives

This lesson sets out the role and responsibilities of a PPN Representative and how representatives are elected to their roles.

Topic 2: Representative Responsibilities 

Lesson 3: PPN Secretariat

This lesson sets out the functions of the PPN Secretariat who oversee the governance of the Public Participation Network.

Topic 3: Communicating with PPN Members

Lesson 4: Linkage Groups

This lesson explains how PPN Linkage groups are used as the vehicles through which PPN policies are formulated for the purpose of informing Council policies on a wide range of issues.

Topic 4: Linkage Group Responsibilities

Topic 5: Committees and Panels

Topic 6: Policy Development

Topic 7: Reporting

Lesson 5: Committee Skills

This lesson provides practical guidance to PPN Representatives who may find themselves chairing committee meetings or recording meeting minutes.

Topic 8: Setting Agendas

Topic 9: Recording Meeting Minutes

Topic 10: Chairing Meetings

Course Quiz

In this final lesson, you have an opportunity to complete a short multiple-choice quiz to test your knowledge about what you have learned. Upon successful completion of the quiz, you can download a PDF Certificate of Completion in recognition of your efforts.

Course Commencement & General Instructions

1. Please progress through each of the lessons in the course sequentially.
2. To move from one lesson page to another, click on the ‘Next’ link located at the end of each lesson page. Once you have clicked the ‘Mark Complete’ button, your lesson progress in the course will be recorded.
3. Some lesson pages contain interactive resources. To open an interactive resource, click the orange ‘Launch’ button contained on the web page. Click on the ‘Next’ buttons or arrows within each interactive resource to move from one screen to the next within each of these resources.
4. Document names in blue within a lesson or topic page denote that the document is available to download. Just click on the document name (in blue) to open it for viewing and download.

Click on the Lesson 1 heading in the table below to commence the course.