Here’s what participants have to say about our EPRM revamp Last semester, the Capacity Development Office at UNU-MERIT made changes to its flagship Evidence-Based Policy Research Methods (EPRM) programme based on feedback from its participants, who are working professionals from across the globe looking to enhance their ability to engage with research for better policymaking. While in essence the programme stays the same, some elements are now linked better to participants’ needs. So, what’s new...
A post by Cristina Mancigotti, Capacity Development Coordinator at UNU-MERIT’s Capacity Development Office Students consider dropping out of courses for a number of reasons, but our research shows that peer discussions and local context examples during class sessions can increase engagement and completion rates in online courses. Challenges for online students and educators During the course of an interview, we were not surprised to hear a student telling us that they considered droppin...
Participants share their key takeaways from UNU-MERIT’s Migration Management Diploma Programme The Migration Management Diploma Programme (MMDP) is a capacity development programme which has been offered by UNU-MERIT since 2013. This programme is designed for government officials working in migration and asylum. Running for three months full-time, the course uses various teaching and evaluation methods, including lectures and interactive sessions with participants. We interviewed two MMDP ...
A new book co-edited by Prof. Luc Soete argues that capability building is an active, not a passive, process demanding a clear effort from learners in developing countries. Dedicated to Jorge Katz, a renowned scholar on the economics of innovation and technological change, the book claims that development is a process of creative destruction. In the blog below, co-author Dr. Michiko Iizuka explains these key concepts and the overall thrust of capability building for development. ...
There was a full house for the latest Charles Cooper memorial lecture, given by Professor Sidney G. Winter, former Chief Economist of the US General Accounting Office. Professor Winter spoke at length about ‘Dynamic Capability — The Concept and How It Helps Us Understand Economic Change’, in a session rounded off by more questions than time allowed. See below for more details on the subject and speaker, as well as the powerpoint slides and full lecture video. ...