We held the closing ceremony for our Master’s in Public Policy and Human Development (MPP) on 10 June 2021 to commemorate the past academic year and to celebrate the success of the cohort. After a year of COVID-19, this event brought many students and faculty together for the first time, and was a memorable event on many fronts. The event was moderated by Academic Programme Director Julieta Marotta and Professor Franziska Gassmann, and included talks from the MPP student ambassador, student gove...

“Hello everyone. First of all, I’d like to thank Julieta for having invited me to deliver this keynote and the MPP team for organizing this wonderful event. I’m honoured and delighted. Recent events have given credence to a buzzword used to describe certain markets: VUCA, as in Volatile, Uncertain, Complex and Ambiguous. This term now captures the essence of our entire world. Who would have imagined that a virus infestation would implode in China as an endogenous shock and be c...

A unique partnership between the United Nations University and Maastricht University in the south of the Netherlands, our Master in Public Policy and Human Development features seven specialisations. See our new video interviews for the inside track on all the above. ...

A post by Diana Owuor, a student on our MSc. in Public Policy and Human Development (MPP). … In the ‘New Thinking for a New World’ podcast series by the Tällberg Foundation, Alan Stoga rightly states that one characteristic of the global response to COVID-19 is that it has not been global. A fairly state-centric and regional response has crowded a global approach in several areas. While this poses some challenges, it also offers opportunities- some of which have been unexpected. This artic...

This year’s International Education Day, 24 January, occurs in the wake of a global pandemic that closed schools and universities worldwide, affecting 1.6 billion students in almost 200 countries — including some 120 Master’s students at UNU-MERIT in the Netherlands. Against this difficult backdrop, we raised our game to another level by hosting an online conference with real-life policymakers. The overall aim was to make our Master’s programme more engaging, more real an...

Desertification may still seem like a far-off scenario for Dutch farmers, but it is a growing problem worldwide. The use of pesticides in agriculture, as well as the focus on monoculture, is depleting farmland to the point that it becomes lifeless land and ultimately desert. UM students Vincent and Laura Nieboer, inspired by their father, came up with an accessible concept to help farmers worldwide stop this process. They recently pitched their idea at the ‘Little Big Talks’ on the occasion of t...

We have received the shocking and tragic news of the sudden passing away of our Master’s alumnus Simon Neuland at the age of 30, last Friday. Simon was part of the 2013-14 cohort on our Master of Science in Public Policy and Human Development (MPP), in the Social Protection Specialisation. We remember Simon as a very cheerful person, smart, kind, supportive, and always helpful. From the accounts of all those who knew him, he was a fine human being who will be utterly missed. The staff and ...

A post by Riesa van Doorn, a student on our MSc. in Public Policy and Human Development … Today, on the International Day for the Elimination of Violence Against Women, let’s remind ourselves that violence against girls and women persists in every country in the world. According to the World Health Organization, gender-based violence affects one in three women in their lifetime. Before my Master’s programme in Public Policy and Human Development, the words ‘gender-based violence’ conjured ...

Diego Salama, United Nations University and Isi Madojemu, Leiden University … For the last 75 years, the United Nations has been the pillar of multilateralism and international cooperation. As a forum, it gathers its member states in an effort to ensure international peace and security, promote economic development and manage crises like COVID-19. As an organisation, its agencies funds and programmes are working tirelessly against the odds to achieve the 2030 Agenda. The UN’s 75th anniversary wa...

MPP alumnus Rodolpho Zannin Feijó joined the first online edition of the Maastricht University Alumni Week last month as a guest speaker from his home city of Curitiba in Brazil. During a lively conversation with current and prospective students, he shared his experience as head of the city’s International Affairs Office and looked back on his Master’s studies in Maastricht. Here are six highlights from the conversation. A double-degree from United Nations University and Maastricht University ha...