The JHU-UPF Public Policy Center was delighted to co-host the 2019 Association for Public Policy Analysis & Management (APPAM) International Conference. The conference was held at the Pompeu Fabra University in Barcelona on the 29th and 30th July 2019, bringing experts in Public Policy from across the globe to discuss the most pressing policy issues currently being faced by populations.

The title of this year’s APPAM International Conference was: “Public Policy Under Rapid Global Changes”.

Description: There are new and emerging global challenges that warrant pragmatic and evidence-informed policy responses. Major political changes have been occurring on both sides of the North-Atlantic and other parts of the world, and new political forces have appeared that have impacted the context in which policies are being developed. These new realities create at the same time new needs and also tremendous opportunities for public and social policies that respond to an array of political, economic, ecological, and social changes. Moreover, the beginning of the twenty-first century has seen the spectacular growth of social inequalities among and within countries. All of these represent large challenges that are having an enormous impact on the quality of life, social well-being, and health of populations, in addition to economic, environmental, and political impacts that must be analyzed and changed.

The conference was inaugurated by the Mayor of Barcelona, Ms. Ada Colau, and the Acting President of the Pompeu Fabra University, Dr. Pelegrí Viader Canals, alongside the conference's Chair and Co-Chair, Dr. Keshia Pollack-Porter and Dr. Vicente Navarro.

The conference included 50 panel and roundtable sessions, 17 poster presentations, 1 special debate and 3 plenary sessions. Here are the details of the special events:

Plenary: Climate and the Ecological Crisis

Speaker: Tom Burke - Johns Hopkins University
Reactor: James Connelly - Universitat Autònoma de Barcelona

Special Debate: Evidence-Based Public Policy in an Era of Rapid Change: Is It Feasible? . . . Or Must We Turn to Reasoned Policy by Other Means?

Moderator: Irma Perez-Johnson - American Institutes for Research
Speakers: Stephen Bell - Westat; Brooks Bowden - University of Pennsylvania 

Plenary: Migration Policy and Its Global Impacts

Moderator: Ayla Bonfiglio - Mixed Migration Center - North Africa
Speakers: Ricard Zapata - Pompeu Fabra University; Roger Zetter - University of Oxford 

Plenary: Structural Determinants of Social Inequities

Moderator: Lynette Rawlings - The Policy Academies
Speakers: Sylvia Allegretto - University of California, Berkeley; Joan Benach - Pompeu Fabra University; Vicente Navarro - Pompeu Fabra University; Keshia Pollack Porter - Johns Hopkins University

You can find out more information about APPAM and the 2019 International Conference via their website.