The BSC blog, launched in 2013, features stories from practitioners around the world who are working to solve some of the world’s most pressing and complex problems. Browse blogs below by region.
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Africa
Insufficient Financing for Energy Transition in Africa
Guest blog by Mekalia Paulos Aklilu, IPP ’24 The last 6 months have been truly insightful as I embarked on the ‘IPP journey’. I thought I knew sufficiently enough about public policy, but yet was keen on broadening my perspectives and reinforcing, fine-tuning and honing my expertise on the issue. IPP exceeded my expectations! It…Continue…
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Australia & New Zealand
Evolving Electricity Distribution Network Roles in Australia
Guest Blog by Mayank Grover, IPP ’25 When I applied for the Implementing Public Policy (IPP) program, the biggest doubt I had was whether this course would be too theoretical or academic. The problem-driven iterative adaptation concept seemed a bit alien to the public policy or economic regulation in which I have been working for…Continue…
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Europe & Central Asia
Agricultural Reform in Karabakh
Guest blog by Vahid Hajiyev, LEG ’24 One of the most important lessons from this course is that addressing complex growth challenges requires a problem-driven approach. Tools such as the Toyota “6 Whys” and the fishbone diagram were particularly useful in helping me understand the underlying causes and identify binding constraints. These tools taught me…Continue…
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Latin America & Caribbean
Building Rights-Based Frameworks in Buenos Aires Province’s Fiscal Defense: From Awareness to Action
Guest Blog by Maria Agostina Cacault, IPP ’25 When I began the Implementing Public Policy program at Harvard Kennedy School in May 2025, I thought I understood my challenge: there was a “lack of human rights and gender perspective in the legal proceedings of Buenos Aires Province State Attorney’s Office.” Like many of us working…Continue…
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Middle East & North Africa
Strengthening Healthy School Nutrition Policy in Abu Dhabi, UAE
Guest blog by Mariam Alkarbi, IPP ’25 When I joined the Implementing Public Policy (IPP) program, I was eager to work on an issue close to my heart: improving school food environments in Abu Dhabi. Childhood obesity is one of the UAE’s most pressing public health challenges, and while we already have nutrition guidelines and…Continue…
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North America
Zoning in on the Problem: Using PDIA to Build Affordable Housing in Allentown, Pennsylvania
Guest blog by Melissa Velez, IPP ’23 Since early 2020, the City of Allentown, in Eastern Pennsylvania, has been working on a complete zoning code rewrite. The plan has been to go from a typical Euclidian type of code to more of a form-based code. The project was stalled for a couple of years due…Continue…
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South Asia & Pacific
The Leadership Program Reshaping Cambodia
The Leadership and Innovation Program (LIP), launched in 2020 by the Royal School of Administration and supported by the World Bank’s Coalitions for Reforms (C4R) Global Program, including Michael Woolcock, has trained over 1,000 senior officials across ministries and provinces in Cambodia. The program was designed to address persistent challenges in Cambodia’s public sector, such…Continue…