Professor Gerda van Dijk, Director of the School of Public Management and Administration was part of a panel discussion, “Academics, Expertise, and Policy-Making in Transition Democracies”, at the 3rd Annual Workshops on Public Policy held at the Corvinus University in Budapest, Hungary in June. The conference, an initiative of the International Public Policy Association brought together academics and practitioners from diverse fields to promote public policy research and practice. The hybrid event attracted over 350 participants from 55 countries.

Prof Van Dijk was co-chair of the panel “Academics, Expertise, and Policy-Making in Transition Democracies” alongside Dr Joseph Obosi from the University of Nairobi who joined the discussion virtually. The hybrid model for the conference enabled both online and in-person participation. For the panel Prof Van Dijk co-chaired, four papers were delivered in person and six papers online.

The hybrid conference also allowed participants to network across vast geographical locations. The in-person discussion pre and post the panel discussions offered deeper engagement opportunities for the attendees.

“The working panel composition allowed for in-depth conversations and networks to be made on specific researchable topics and for our panel on the academic and practitioner interface,” commented Prof Van Dijk.