Guest blog written by Oscar Benitez We all experienced the turmoil caused by Covid-19 in 2020. We will spend years trying to describe how it became a huge setback for every activity and economic sector. In my case, I spent several months putting on hold most of the projects of the year, to eventually seeing them…Continue Reading Working on trade in Mexico from Sao Paulo
written by Salimah Samji BSC Faculty Director Matt Andrews and I have been co-teaching PDIA in Action: Development through Facilitated Emergence at the Harvard Kennedy School since 2018. This is a field-lab class where students learn a research-oriented version of PDIA by working on real-world public problems – they learn by doing. The students work together in…Continue Reading Teaching an Experiential Problem-based Class Online during the Pandemic
Guest blog written by Mer Carattini, Sasha Mathew, Imara Salas, Kishan Shah, Katie Wesdyk The PDIA process taught us how to turn a ‘wicked problem’—a highly complex tangle of many problems with high uncertainty—into manageable components that we can begin to address. We learned a strategy for how to deconstruct an abstract problem with the…Continue Reading Countering Radicalization in France
Guest blog written by Nathalie Gazzaneo, Tendai Mvuvu, Rodrigo Tejada, Matt Weber On a winter’s afternoon in early February this year, a Mexican MPP1, a Brazilian MPP2, a Zimbabwean MC-MPA and an American MC-MPA randomly stepped up to the plate of abandoned projects in Nigeria. We, the four students and travelers, had never crossed our…Continue Reading Abandoned Infrastructure Projects in Nigeria
Guest blog written by Cindy McCormick Before this course, as an engineer that’s spent most of my career in the private sector, and four years working in municipal government, I never really thought much about ‘public policy’ and wasn’t even sure what it meant. My new boss of six months thought it would be a good…Continue Reading Implementing the Vision Zero plan in Lancaster, PA
Guest blog written by Bishal Belbase, John Diing, Mayra Hoyos, Stephanie Shalkoski As a pedagogical procedure for learning Problem-Driven Iterative Adaptation a group of four students from Mexico, Nepal, the United States, and South Sudan studied bilateral trade between Kenya and Canada with the help of an external authorizer: Dr. George Imbenzi, Honorary Consul General…Continue Reading From Pyrethrum Exports to the Knowledge Economy: Exploring Trade Between Kenya and Canada
Guest blog written by Yilma Melkamu Alazar I came across the “Implementing Public Policy” course by chance while scrolling through my social media links. Reading through the course objectives, I immediately thought it might help me to find a way to solve some of my struggles. However, I was a bit skeptical since my field of…Continue Reading Deconstructing policy challenges using the fishbone
Guest blog written by Ilhom Aliyev, Yousif Folathi Alkhoori, Manoj Kumar, Mike Ramirez, Frederick Tarantino MLD 103MA: Problem Driven Iterative Adaptation (PDIA) in Action: Development Through Facilitated Emergence is among the best classes at Harvard Kennedy School. This hidden infinity stone, 2-credit class challenges you to solve real-world, complex problems using the PDIA approach. The tried-and-true…Continue Reading Exploring Legal Education Reform in Ukraine
Guest blog written by Harman Bhullar, Sasinat Chindapol, Crystal Collier, Doreen King, Jingli Yan On the problem … In the dark, feeling for this shapeless beast, Even when you think you know, do not be deceived, Its ever-changing nature will make you question every move, Build it up, break it down, and you shall find…Continue Reading Tackling Access to Affordable and Quality Childcare in Burien, Washington
Guest blog written by Artem Shaipov After completing the Implementing Public Policy Program and joining the IPP Community of Practice, I was thrilled to receive an invitation to work with a group of master students taking a class at the Harvard Kennedy School (HKS) titled, “Problem Driven Iterative Adaptation (PDIA) in Action: Development through facilitated…Continue Reading Coupling Action Learning and International Development
