About Development Practice

“The field of sustainable development is growing rapidly and facing challenges of increasing complexity,” said Jeffrey D. Sachs, Director of The Earth Institute at Columbia University.“ Today's practitioners must confront the enormous and interconnected crises of climate change, extreme poverty, epidemic disease, hunger, rapid population growth, and environmental degradation. The new MPA Program in Development Practice will train professionals with the multi-disciplinary knowledge, including the natural sciences, tools and management skills they will need for success.”

Consider, for example, the many areas of core knowledge necessary to effectively address the challenge of combating chronic hunger in Sub-Saharan Africa:

Agricultural science is required to understand the biophysical factors contributing to the stagnation of crop yields and the technical solutions that could quickly boost food output and provide a source of quality nutrition in rural areas.

Environmental science is required to manage the agricultural land environment and to understand its interactions with climate change.

Health science and disease control are required to promote nutrition and labor productivity among farmers and to fight the parasites that contribute to undernourishment.

Engineering is required to understand the fundamental infrastructural requirements to support energy, irrigation, storage, transportation, and communications systems.

Economics is required to ensure that both farm- and macro-scale policy solutions are economically sustainable and supportive of long-term solutions to the poverty trap.

Political science is required to understand the social promoters and inhibitors of investing in rural areas.

Anthropology is required to ensure that priorities and innovations are relevant and manageable in local contexts.

Management and administration are necessary to promote institutional development at the local and national level, and participatory planning skills are necessary to ensure multi-stakeholder design of solutions.

None of these individual areas of knowledge is sufficient on its own to solve Africa’s hunger challenge. All are necessary, and more.

The Master of Public Administration
in Development Practice at Columbia

Professor Glenn Denning is the director of the MPA in Development Practice (MPA-DP). In this video he discusses the program, its requirements, workshops and career opportunities. Professor Denning dedicates special attention to the explanation of the integrated development approach in which the pedagogical model of this program is based. This video also includes (minute 60) the participation of four current students that were invited to share their academic experiences and answer questions from a very diversified audience of prospective students. Video

The MPA degree in Development Practice (MPA-DP) trains aspiring practitioners to understand, develop and implement integrated approaches to sustainable development. Drawing on the extraordinary educational and research facilities of Columbia University, the MPA-DP emphasizes practical knowledge and skills in food systems, public health, education, infrastructure, environmental sustainability, business enterprise, economics and management.  During the 22-month program, these areas are covered through a combination of formal courses, seminars, special events and internship opportunities.  Direct hands-on field experience in all areas is obtained through the mid-program field internship.

Practitioners of a Cross-disciplinary Approach

The creation of the MPA-DP degree was one of the core recommendations of the International Commission on Education for Sustainable Development Practice, supported by the John D. and Catherine T. MacArthur Foundation.  The year-long Commission was co-chaired by Jeffrey D. Sachs, Director of The Earth Institute at Columbia University, and John McArthur, Executive Director of Millennium Promise, and comprised 20 top thinkers in the field of sustainable development, including the CEO of CARE, the then Executive Director of UNICEF, and a former president of Mexico.

This group of distinguished experts concluded that there is significant and growing demand for generalist development professionals - individuals highly trained in a set of cross-disciplinary competencies that prepares them to address the complexities of sustainable development.  Leaders in the field need multidisciplinary knowledge and skills to solve problems in the increasingly complex and dynamic world