CEU School of Public Policy and International Affairs hosts Inaugural Conference

On April 23, Dean Wolfgang Reinicke of CEU's new School of Public Policy and International Affairs (SPPIA) welcomed over 60 leading scholars and practitioners from across the globe to the school's inaugural conference, “The Future of Public Policy Schools in the 21st Century.” CEU President and Rector John Shattuck described the school as one that “will focus on promoting entrepreneurship in public policy in a time of pressing global and regional challenges as well as new opportunities.”

In planning the school, Reinicke and his team have been focusing on designing teaching, research and outreach programs that create and invest in new ideas for the public good, put forward by political, social,and economic entrepreneurs. In his opening remarks, Reinicke stressed the need to re-evaluate how schools such as SPPIA can become rich intellectual laboratories developing the innovative thinking necessary to improve public policy and the community of ‘purpose beyond power’ required to translate them into action.

Lan Xue, dean of the School of Public Policy and Management at Tsinghua University, discussed public policy in China in a global context. “China is also, of course, trying to move along the path of political reform so the experiences of other countries – whether they're in North America or Europe – are very useful for China to learn,” he said. “We can see that the Western system has its own pitfalls as well so how can China learn from those experiences? SPPIA's experience will be very useful and we're very happy to have a great partner.”

Conference participants represented 14 countries, including such rising powers as Brazil and India.

Over the next 16 months, SPPIA staff will concentrate on hiring founding faculty, developing its flagship Master of Public Policy program, and hosting a series of executive education seminars. SPPIA will welcome its first students in the fall of 2013.  

Read more about the flagship conference.