In this field-lab class, students learn a research-oriented version of Problem Driven Iterative Adaptation (PDIA) by working on public problems. They learn by doing.
Executive Director of Building State Capacity Salimah Samji and Edward S. Mason Senior Lecturer in International Development Matthew Andrews co-teach MLD-103M: PDIA in Action: Development Through Facilitated Emergence—a field lab where students tackle real public problems using a research-oriented version of Problem Driven Iterative Adaptation (PDIA).
Each year, Samji and Andrews invite graduates of their Implementing Public Policy executive program to nominate real-world challenges for HKS students to work on. Over seven weeks, student teams work with their "authorizers" to unpack the problem, break it into manageable pieces, identify entry points, test ideas, and design a learning and adaptation strategy.
Four student teams reflect on their PDIA learning journey, share key takeaways, and offer recommendations to their authorizers.
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Tackling learning poverty in Sierra Leone’s education system through the lens of the PDIA
Tackling learning poverty in Sierra Leone’s education system through the lens of the PDIA
The student team—three from HKS, one from Harvard T.H. Chan School of Public Health—were paired with Alpha Bungura of Sierra Leone’s Ministry of Basic and Senior Secondary Education to explore the complexities of poverty in Sierra Leone.
Untangling the arts ecosystem in Providence: strengthening the “creative capital”
Untangling the arts ecosystem in Providence: strengthening the “creative capital”
This student team examined how to strengthen the arts and culture ecosystem in Providence, Rhode Island, working with Joe Wilson Jr., director of the City of Providence’s Department of Art, Culture, and Tourism.
Cracking the code: can Australia sustain more homegrown unicorns?
Cracking the code: can Australia sustain more homegrown unicorns?
The student team focused on the structure of Australia’s innovation economy, asking whether the broader system surrounding Australian startups is designed to turn their strengths into durable commercial outcomes at scale.
Breathing through the grey: learning to govern air quality in Punjab, Pakistan
Breathing through the grey: learning to govern air quality in Punjab, Pakistan
Using the tools they learned in class, the team set out to tackle Pakistan’s air pollution problem. What began as a broad concern about hazardous air evolved into a focused examination of institutional design, political economy, and the stubborn gap between policy and practice.
PDIA in Action: Development Through Facilitated Emergence
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