INSPER NEWS

With the first graduated masters, new courses, and different research and knowledge dissemination initiatives, the Insper Center for Public Policy and Administration’s progress was reinforced in 2020

The Insper Center for Public Policy and Administration (CGPP, for its acronym in Portuguese) keeps on consolidating its work in teaching, research, and knowledge dissemination. In 2020, the center promoted several actions to expand its production further.

“After an intense period of reviewing our strategic planning in late 2020, we started 2021 with renewed energy to solidify our mission of positively impacting our country,” says Prof. André Luiz Marques, Executive Coordinator of CGPP.

Public Policy and Administration courses

We had 340 undergraduate students participating in the 14 elective course classes of the Integrated Public Policy and Administration Track offered in 2020. Over 100 students have already enrolled in classes for the first semester of 2021. Along the track, Business Administration, Law, Economics, and Engineering students can explore more specific interests from the first semesters. That includes the possibility of obtaining equivalency of credits in the Advanced Program in Public Administration (PAGP, for its acronym in Portuguese) and the Professional Masters in Public Policy (MPP).

The PAGP is a Lato Sensu Graduate Program that prepares professionals who already have some experience in public administration for the challenge of diagnosing problems and implementing innovative solutions in an ethical manner and with social, environmental, and economic responsibility. At the beginning of 2021, we will welcome the program’s sixth class.

“I evaluate my experience as being extremely innovative and positive in my personal, professional, and academic lives. That’s because, besides having access to the best structures for my studies, I had the opportunity to meet and share experiences with other people from several places in Brazil,” says Mayara Silva de Souza, a graduate from a PAGP class and the coordinator of a Civil Society organization. “Another critical point is the quality of class sessions, materials, and professors.”

At the end of 2020, we also opened the selection process for the first class of our Masters in Public Administration (MGP, for its acronym in Portuguese). It is an executive MBA, Lato Sensu graduate program targeted at public sector and private company leaders that work with governments and civil society organizations. The goal is to train professionals for improved analytical decision-making and greater ability to understand and solve real-world problems.

Within the Stricto Sensu programs’ scope, we celebrate the first theses defenses of our Professional Masters in Public Policy (MPP). We had structured this program to provide students with the ability to formulate and evaluate public policies capable of generating value for society.

“I don’t see how to not recommend Insper for any professional or academic specialization, mainly in the theme of public policy. Close contact with great professionals allows a rich sharing of experiences and knowledge. The quantitative training and emphasis on policy evaluation is a strength and a differential”, says Maria Clara Mancilha, the first MPP’s graduate. She defended her master’s thesis in December 2020. It addressed Public Policy Evaluation considering the impacts of the Brazilian government’s Family Health Strategy on early childhood education.

The third class of the MPP starts its activities in the last week of January 2021. MPP’s selection process showed record demand with an increase of more than 300% of candidates eligible for the program. Within the program’s racial inclusion policies, one-third of the class is made up of Black persons, and 60% of it is composed of women.

In all, we offered 25 classes of Executive Education in 2020. Most of them were in our Live Learning model. This account includes open enrollment programs and classes of customized programs in conjunction with partner companies and institutions. An example is the Brazil in Global Agribusiness course, offered in partnership with Brazil’s Ministry of Foreign Affairs and its Alexandre de Gusmão Foundation (FUNAG). It had 40 participants spread over 18 countries, including diplomats and staff from the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, Brazilian Trade and Investment Promotion Agency (Apex-Brasil), and Brazil’s Ministry of Agriculture, Livestock, and Food Supply (MAPA). Another recent example is the Management of City Administrations course, held in partnership with civic and social organization RenovaBR. The course was attended by 12 mayors and 101 city councilors.

“In 2020, the adverse conditions for face-to-face meetings caused us to accelerate the implementation of important projects, such as the Live Learning one. In the case of Public Policy and Administration courses, this format allows for an even broader impact since our potential students are distributed over different locations and can take courses from home. We also realized that the modality not only enables networking among students but also enhances it since technology offers more sharing possibilities during and outside of class time. In 2021, we intend not only to maintain the new format but also to expand it, offering it in parallel to the face-to-face one”, says Carolina Miotto Serain, Coordinator of Executive Programs in Public Policy and Administration. The Executive Education courses in Public Policy and Administration are already with registrations open for the first quarter of 2021.

Discover the Insper Public Policy and Administration courses.

Research and knowledge dissemination

In 2019 and 2020, MPP professors had research papers published or accepted for publication in the leading journals in the fields of Administration and Economics, such as Academy of Management Review, Journal of Econometrics, The Journal of Development Studies, Journal of the European Economic Association, Journal of International Business Studies, Journal of Public Administration Research and Theory, The Lancet, Organization Science, Social Science & Medicine, Strategic Management Journal, World Development, among others.

We also hold several academic and scientific meetings. For instance, as of December 11, over 100 students, alumni, and professors from Insper’s Public Policy and Administration programs met online for a year-end chat. The event had the special participation of Insper professors Natalia Pires de Vasconcelos and Fernando Haddad and discussed challenges and good public administration practices in the relationship between the executive and the judicial branches.

In all, in 2020, the CGPP held more than 40 events and webinars on various topics, totaling more than 35,000 views in more than 115 hours of broadcast. It also launched various knowledge dissemination materials, including two books — China-Brazil: Partnership on Agriculture and Food Security and Decadência e Reconstrução – Espírito Santo, Decay and Reconstruction: The case for the State of Espírito Santo, in a free translation) and two columns in major Brazilian outlets — Impacto Social (Social Impact), on Exame magazine’s portal, and Agro Global (Global Agribusiness), on Veja magazine’s portal. Besides, the CGPP launched the Manual de Acompanhamento das Eleições Municipais de 2020 (a handbook for monitoring Brazil’s 2020 municipal elections), and several articles about Public Policy on the Insper Conhecimento (Insper Knowledge) website (in Portuguese), including the Primeiro Turno (First Round) Podcast, with eight episodes, focused on the cities’ challenges.

About Research in Public Policy and Administration, we highlight the launch of the Lemann Foundation Chair, the Celso Pinto Hub, and the Science Network for Educational Policy Design, all in 2020.

Discover our research and knowledge dissemination initiatives in Public Policy and Administration.