4 students return from the GPPN conference in Brazil

Early March 2023, students from across the globe participated in the Global Public Policy Network (GPPN) conference organized this year by the FGV School of Business Administration in São Paulo, Brazil. Four students from Sciences Po were internally selected to attend the event and pitch their policy proposal in front of a jury comprising the deans’ of the institutions part of the GPPN network. 

Proposals Pitched by Sciences Po students  

Aïcha Chabbi (student in the Master in European Affairs, Politics & Public Policy stream) and Linda Sebbas (student in the Master in Public Policy, Global Health stream) formed a team and presented their project entitled “DigitAge”. Their proposal was selected to take part in the final round of the conference and received an honorable mention for “best civic engagement project”. Their idea set forth an intergenerational learning programme and provided a solution to tackle digital divides in access to e-health and e-governance, by increasing digital literacy and participation among seniors.  

Manon Chenailler (student in the Master in European Affairs, Energy, Environment and Sustainability stream) and Nike Hüttermann (student in the Master in European Affairs, Europe in the World stream) formed a team and presented a policy project to democratize European climate policy-making. They proposed the establishment of a participatory budgeting mechanism at the EU level, aimed at facilitating the bottom-up development of environmental policies to tackle climate change alienation as well as the EU’s persistent democratic deficit.  

The GPPN Conference  

The GPPN network is an international group of top public policy schools that provides a platform for building institutional partnerships, research, and collaboration between students. Each university sends up to 15 students to participate in the contest. This year’s event gathered the 23 best projects selected from the participating GPPN universities: The London School of Economics and Political Science (LSE); Columbia | SIPA; Hertie School; Lee Kuan Yew School of Public Policy; The University of Tokyo; University of Toronto - Munk School of Global Affairs & Public Policy; FGV EAESP - Escola de Administração de Empresas de São Paulo da Fundação Getulio Vargas and The Sciences Po School of Public Affairs. 

Students’ innovative proposals provided a diversity of creative solutions for policymakers and governments to address the theme of the 2023 GPPN Conference: “Policy challenges in an ever more divided world”. For two days, selected teams and projects were given 3 minutes on the first day and 5 minutes followed by a Q&A for those in the final round to present their project on the second day of the conference. Apart from these policy-related aspects, the FGV EAESP hosts also kindly facilitated a very interesting cultural programme, allowing the participating students to learn more about São Paulo by taking part in a political tour or visiting the city’s Philharmonic.  

The experience was very enriching both academically and personally for students. It allowed them to connect with other students from across the world and give practical meaning to the theories learned in class. In a global context characterized by rising polarization along multiple divisive lines, the Conference inspired and enabled them to broaden our perspectives by listening to brilliant ideas on how to solve today’s most pressing issues.

Learn more

• The Global Public Policy Network (GPPN)
• The 2023 conference in São Paulo