Students

UBC’s Engineering Undergraduate Society (EUS) worked with the Social Ecological Economic Development Studies (SEEDS) Sustainability Program to publish a comprehensive behavioral intervention study aimed at solving the problems of students leaving bookable study rooms messy.

In this episode of Policy Roundtable Talks, Joshua Tafel and Guilherme Rosales sit down to discuss the ethics of policy advocacy. What differentiates good policy advocate from a poor one?

Can Venezuela restore democracy as tensions escalate? The nation’s future remains uncertain as both Nicolás Maduro and Juan Guaidó wrestle for control of the state. MPPGA student Alessia Rodríguez Di Eugenio discusses recent political developments in Venezuela, as well as the potential role of the international community in restoring democracy.

In this episode of Policy Roundtable Talks, Guilherme Rosales and Chris Stoicheff have an informed conversation about the current rise of authoritarianism seen throughout the world and the challenge posed to democracies globally.

The MPPGA program partners with premier public policy schools in Europe and Asia through a student exchange program. Currently we have students on exchange to and from Hertie School of Governance (Berlin, Germany), Sciences Po School of Public Affairs (Paris, France) and Lee Kuan Yew School of Public Policy (Singapore). Read about their experiences.

The Phil Lind Initiative 2019 Series will explore whether the U.S. can overcome its domestic climate crisis to become a global leader for climate action, with visits to UBC from some of the foremost intellectuals on the climate crisis including Robert Bullard, Elizabeth Kolbert, Winona LaDuke, Bill McKibben, and Naomi Klein.

In this episode of  Policy Roundtable Talks, Nicholas Lloyd-Kuzik sits down with Dr Moura Quayle, Director pro tem of the School of Public Policy and Global Affairs at the University Global Affairs, to discuss why leaders in public policy should harness the power of creativity.

Moura Quayle, Director pro tem of the School of Public Policy and Global Affairs was part of a collaboration with the Design Thinking for Creativity and Innovation MOOC.

The MPPGA program is proud to announce that 14 students from our 2017 cohort have secured UBC Arts Co-op positions this summer!

A post-congregation reception at the School of Public Policy and Global Affairs was held on May 24, 2018 to celebrate our graduating class of Master of Public Policy and Global Affairs (MPPGA) students.

In this episode of Policy Roundtable Talks, Nicholas Lloyd-Kuzik and Luthfi Dhofier sit down with the Honourable Mr Tom Mulcair to discuss his career in public service, federal electoral reform in Canada, and tips for students looking to enter a career in policymaking.

MPPGA student Claire Allen, a fire information officer with the BC Wildfire Service, was quoted in The Star why B.C.’s mega-fires, still smouldering underground, could pop up again and where to watch out for them.

MPPGA alumnus Andrés Delgado-Ron shared his recent experiences presenting a talk on policy implementation for the commons at the Creative Commons Summit 2018.

MPPGA students Clare Kim and Tommy Koh joined Professor Kai Ostwald at the 4th Canada-ASEAN Business Council Business Forum in Singapore where they met with NUS and CABC collaborators.

Ali Bajwa and Daniela Rodriguez sit down with Dr Steve Tsang, Director of the China Institute at the School of Oriental and African Studies at the University of London, to discuss China’s foreign and domestic policy.

MPPGA student Tommy Ko wrote a piece for East Asia Forum discussing the evolution of migrant workers’ right in ASEAN countries like Cambodia, Laos, Myanmar and Vietnam. The Manila Consensus’s call for partnerships with domestic actors such as NGOs is critical because governments cannot act alone. Governments are broadly neutral actors who are constrained in regional negotiations by public opinion and domestic legitimation concerns. The existence of an intermediary like the Manila Consensus enables non-state actors to sustain their public influence, which in turn influences the political climate and makes broader mandates possible.

MPPGA students Marc Attallah, Farah Kashaf, Laurélène Faye, and Reagan Rockzsfforde represented the UBC teams in the 2018 National Public Administration Case Competition.

In this episode of Policy Roundtable Talks, Diego Bastidas sits down with Max Cameron, Professor at the University of British Columbia, to discuss Latin America as a region for democratic innovation.

In this episode of Policy Roundtable Talks, Aaron Nelson, Susanne Beilmann, and Ros Seibert discusses the release of the Nunes memo in the United States, the pipeline debacle emerging between British Columbia and Alberta, and the ongoing opioid crisis in Canada and the United States. 

MPPGA student Darren Touch wrote an op-ed for The Diplomat on what Chinese investment means for Cambodia. Now Cambodia must prepare for both the negative and positive consequences. Cambodia is strategic in accepting China’s monetary support, but its politicians also need to be strategic in how the vast resources are spent in developing industry and infrastructure.

While China’s presence in Cambodia is nothing new, the latest agreements between the two nations signify drastic changes for Cambodia amidst a proliferation of Chinese operated-businesses, construction, and tourists, all at the cost of local businesses. MPPGA student Darren Touch delves into policies Cambodia must adapt to become an active partner with China and to maximize the benefits of foreign development.

This past December, four Master of Public Policy and Global Affairs teams embarked on field work in India and Timor-Leste for their Global Policy Projects after three months of research and preparations. Learn more about the insights they gained.

In this episode of Policy Roundtable Talks, Joanna Fensome and Aaron Nelson sit down with Dr Wade Davis, Professor at the University of British Columbia, to discuss the crisis of culture loss and the impact of large infrastructure projects on indigenous peoples.

In this episode of Policy Roundtable Talks, Ali Bajwa sits down with Dr. Eva Pils, Reader in Transnational Law at King’s College London, to discuss the state of human rights in China in the wake of the 19th National Congress of the Communist Party of China.

In this episode of Policy Roundtable Talks, Aaron Nelson sits down with Dr John Steen, Associate Professor at the University of Queensland, to discuss the relationship between government regulation and private sector innovation in the pursuit of environmental sustainability.

In this episode of Policy Roundtable Talks,  Aaron Nelson sits down with Dr Kevin Milligan, Professor at the University of British Columbia, to discuss the Canadian federal government’s proposed changes to small business taxation.

MPPGA student Tommy K.S Koh writes on the ASEAN Consensus on the Protection and Promotion of Rights of Migrant Workers of Manila, Philippines. This provides a strong mandate for the ASEAN Committee on Migrant Workers to begin work on developing an action plan that includes specific policy instruments. Labor migrants will continue to face vulnerability until substantive and not just discursive change is made on the migrant labor rights agenda. 

MPPGA alumnus Andrés Delgado authored the Ecuador Internet Freedorm Report by Freedom House. Findings show that Ecuador’s internet freedom declined in the midst of frequent attacks against government critics online, including progovernment trolling, cyberattacks, legal and physical threats.

In this episode of Policy Roundtable Talks, Joanna Fensome, Mitch Hulse, and Nathan Seef discuss the ongoing NAFTA talks between Canada, the US and Mexico for which Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau travelled to Washington this week. From there we move on to the recent announcement of a UK-Canada alliance to end coal power that will be officially launched at COP23 in Bonn, Germany in November.

MPPGA alumnus Brady Fox spent his summer on exchange at Waseda University in Japan. His research concerns overseas Chinese communities in Southeast Asia.

Justin Kwan, a MAAPPS graduate and Post-Graduate Research Fellow at the Asia Pacific Foundation of Canada, is co-host of The Youth Element, a new podcast series about East Asia’s millennials. The Youth Element is an eight-part series that explores questions about culture, politics, economics, and national defense through the narrated stories of youth. 

Is there a gender gap between Canadian men and women’s views on Asia? Learn more in MPPGA student Kiran Alwani’s blog based on findings from the Asia Pacific Foundation of Canada’s 2016 National Opinion Poll.

MPPGA students at UBC along with students from the Master in Public Policy at Sciences Po participated in a five day Resilient Cities Policy Challenge that addressed the concept of social connectedness among refugees, youth, and seniors.