This is the podcast of the student ambassador of the Máster Program of Public Policy and Human Development of Maastricht University and UNU-MERIT ("The MPP").
Here you will find stories and insights on what is the experience of doing this program through the voices of its own students and faculty.
All of the opinions stated in this show pertain only to their participants, and should not be understood as representing the views of any of the institutions mentioned above.
MPP Policy Café Series - War in Ukraine with Michal Natorski, Andreas Herdt & Anita Magdalena Zalisz
During the MPP Policy Cafe Series, students from the MPP discuss with their professors pressing topics on the agenda from a policy perspective. In this first episode, Professor Michal Natorski shares with us some thoughts on the ongoing war in Ukraine.
Special thanks to MPP Students Andreas Herdt & Anita Magdalena Zalisz for preparing this interview and asking the questions.
20 Dec 2021
Bartel Van de Walle - Director of United Nations University
In this episode with Prof. Bartel Van de Walle, director of UNU-MERIT, we talk about his personal story, his understandings about science and academia, the challenges and advantages of online education and his visions about the future of the Institute.
20 Dec 2021
Sharada Kerkar (India)
Sharada's fondest memories of her childhood in Goa are running in the beach and learning to swim with her father. In those occasions, he also inspired Sharada to dream big. When she started University, she was also influenced by different development economists that make her dream that ending poverty was an achievable outcome.
In this episode of the podcast, we talked about Sharada's journey through the development sector, her educational experience in rural areas of India, and discussed her understandings on privilege.
16 Dec 2021
Mariam Hatem (Egypt)
Mariam Hatem was born in Egypt, but she moved a lot throughout her life. By being exposed to different cultures, she developed many interests but soon enough she realised her main calling was politics and policy. In this episode you will find how Mariam discovered her passion to become a specialist in foreign policy.
14 Dec 2021
Pedro Pablo Aguilar (Venezuela)
Pedro Pablo was born and raised in Venezuela, but lived most of his adult life in the United States where he graduated as a political scientist from Boston College. Even though he refrains from defining himself on those terms, Pedro has had some experience in political campaigns in Venezuela, and also working in organisations of the civil society for the purpose of improving democracy in Latin America.
In this podcast you will hear about his fascinating journey. From graduating with student debt during the 2008 crisis, to living in Korea, returning to Venezuela to campaign in favor of the opposition party to defeat the regime of Hugo Chávez, only to end up in Maastricht with the aspiration to become a policy expert.
8 Dec 2021
Simon Aebi (Switzerland)
Even though he started his career in the financial sector –some might say, a rather stereotypical path for a Swiss person–, Simon then decided to pursue a more committed career into the military. That is why, prior to coming to Maastricht he was deployed into peacekeeping missions in the Middle East where he served as an unarmed observer within the Blue Berets corps.
In this episode you will find his interesting journey from banking, to the middle east only to land in Maastricht with the aspiration to become a policy expert as well.
8 Dec 2021
Robin Didden (BEL/NL)
As a kid, Robin's father told her she should learn a martial art to defend herself. Her first option was cage fighting but fortunately enough, destiny wanted her to become a professional Tae-Kwon Do fighter instead. In parallel to her studies in the MPP Program, she is competing for a spot in the olympics for the Dutch national team.
His martial arts practice and the different life experiences she endured made her aware of her resilience, and inner capacity to remain calm amidst adversity. That is why she chose the specialisation of Risk and Vulnerability, in order to design policies to prevent and deter terrorism.
8 Dec 2021
Phillip Polak (Hungary)
Phillip was born in Hungary, but was raised in Slovakia. He was a member of the Hungarian minority within that country, and that gave him a special perspective on issues related to identity, race and migration.
Apart from doing the MPP, he is also co-founder and editor of a magazine called Kompromisszum (https://www.kompromisszum.com/). A project he developed with the objective of fostering progressive goals to the readership of south Slovakia.
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