Dr. Leslie A. Pal, founding dean of the College of Public Policy (CPP), recently attended the 5th International Conference on Public Policy (ICPP) in Barcelona, Spain. Dr. Pal is vice-president of the International Public Policy Association (IPPA), which co-organized this year’s conference with the Institut Barcelona d’Estudis Internacionals (IBEI). Dr. Pal was co-author on two papers presented at the conference, and a discussant on others.

ICPP took place in a “hybrid” format, with a mix of virtual and on-site panels held at the Pompeu Fabra University, Ciutadella Campus. The conference welcomed almost 300 participants on-site and about 800 participating online.

One of Dr. Leslie’s papers was presented with CPP faculty Dr. Andreas Rechkemmer, senior professor, Dr. Anis Ben Brik, associate professor, and Dr. Ozcan Ozturk, assistant professor, on the MENA COVID-19 policy response tracker developed in 2020 with a Qatar National Research Fund (QNRF) grant. The other paper was on global policy advisory systems, and Dr. Leslie was also a discussant for a series of papers on policy transfer in the social policy field.

“ICPP is now the leading international conference on public policy, and it was a great opportunity to once again meet colleagues face-to-face, with all the appropriate precautions, to share research and learn from each other. I also had an opportunity to expose the college and HBKU to an international audience not always familiar with the Gulf or with Qatar. Over the coming year, we hope to host a visit of the IPPA president and secretary-general in Doha, and over the coming years offer to hold an IPPA workshop or summer/winter school. I also hope that this will be an opportunity for our students to connect with research networks around the world,” Dr. Leslie said.