A festival for bringing together policy professionals, academicians and young thinkers to rethink, engage and network
When? January 19-20, 2024
Where? Kale Auditorium, Gokhale Institute of Politics and Economics, Pune
Who? Over 350 delegates (with a waiting list of over 450 policy enthusiasts) Participants mainly consisted of students, young public policy enthusiasts, early professionals, experts, and entrepreneurs.
Why? The inaugural edition was envisioned to be an anchor point for turning Pune into a public policy research hub. It brought together professionals, academicians and enthusiasts that drive public policy in India.
Organized by Dr. Sahil Deo with support from the Parimal and Pramod Chaudhari Foundation, the Pune Public Policy Festival consisted of a series of debates and discussions focused on the trade-offs between environment and development, growth and equality, and technological convenience and privacy. It featured 24 speakers and 10 keynote speakers with discussions covering impactful governance, urban transformation, global perspectives, financial regulation, and energy transition. The festival explored the challenges facing the country by centering Local & State Governments. It also devoted time for interaction with industry experts, bureaucrats & politicians to highlight niches and gaps for research and businesses.
Outcomes
PPPF showed the need and space for discourse among public policy stakeholders outside of New Delhi, to promote decentralized policy thinking and making. Another edition is being planned for 11-12 January 2025.
For more details, visit PPPF.
A two-day virtual course to train young social enthusiasts in skills to effectively visualize data
When? March 2024
Where? Virtual
Who? Conducted by Sahil Deo and Jayati Sharma. Attracted ~10 participants, mainly students and early professionals. Why? The course addressed the rising need for social scientists to be trained in quantitative methodologies and evidence-based strategies to address societal challenges. It sought to equip social scientists with data analysis skills required to conduct the quantitative research necessary for making informed decisions and policy recommendations.
Outcomes
The course trained the participants in the basics of R. It was a beginner level course that covered datasets, packages, data wrangling etc. It provided an effective introduction to R and to effective data visualization. A series of similar courses are in development. These are envisioned to be a mix of beginner, and intermediate courses intended to provide people with better data visualization skills.