Pardee Center Conference Report

Development That Works

January 2012 (50 pages)

Conference held March 2011

IBSN 978-1-936727-00-1
Download PDF Version

On March 31, 2011, Boston University’s Frederick S. Pardee Center for the Study of the Longer-Range Future in collaboration with the BU Global Development program held a conference titled Development That Works.

The conference organizing committee comprised Boston University professors Kevin Gallagher (International Relations and BU Global Development), Dilip Mookherjee (Economics), Jonathon Simon (Public Health) and Adil Najam (Pardee Center Director, International Relations, and Geography and Environment), who each chaired one of the sessions. They brought together stellar panels on various aspects that are central to development programs, including: global economic governance as it influences and impacts development; public and private investment in development programs; social enterprise programs related to development issues; and economic development from traditional – and not-so-traditional – perspectives.

The theme and the title of the conference stemmed from the conference organizers’ desire to explore, from a ground-level perspective, what programs, policies, and practices have been shown – or have the potential – to achieve sustained, long-term advances in development in various parts of the world. The intent was not to simply showcase “success stories,” but rather to explore the larger concepts and opportunities that have resulted in development that is meaningful and sustainable over time.

This conference report features essays written by Boston University graduate students that capture the salient points and over-arching themes from the four sessions. The conference agenda and speakers’ biographies are included following the essays. In addition to reading the report, you can watch the conference sessions on the Pardee Center web site at www-staging.bu.edu/pardee/multimedia.