About the MDP program

The two-year MDP program at Al Farabi KazNU is designed to prepare young professionals to

become innovative public managers and policy-makers, and provides the skills and cutting-edge

knowledge required to better address the challenges of policy-making, policy analysis and

sustainable development at the global, national and local levels.

The program is taught by leading educators, researchers and policy-practitioners preparing students

to develop leadership skills, systematic analytical thinking and high-quality managerial expertise,

emphasizing the competencies required by the complex development of the rapidly globalizing

world. At the same time the program puts a great emphasis to localizing content and preparing

students to deal with Kazakhstan’s national strategic programs, such as Green Bridge, Kazakhstan-

2050 and EXPO-2017.

The MDP prepares students to be problem solvers and to deal with such issues as sustainable

development, green economy, corporate social responsibility, energy policies and alternative energy

development, and strategic planning and trains for leadership positions in international, provincial

and local government agencies, as well as non-government organizations (NGOs), international

agencies and private corporations.

The two-year MDP program at Al Farabi KazNU is designed to prepare young professionals tobecome innovative public managers and policy-makers, and provides the skills and cutting-edgeknowledge required to better address the challenges of policy-making, policy analysis andsustainable development at the global, national and local levels.The program is taught by leading educators, researchers and policy-practitioners preparing studentsto develop leadership skills, systematic analytical thinking and high-quality managerial expertise,emphasizing the competencies required by the complex development of the rapidly globalizingworld. At the same time the program puts a great emphasis to localizing content and preparingstudents to deal with Kazakhstan’s national strategic programs, such as Green Bridge, Kazakhstan-2050 and EXPO-2017.The MDP prepares students to be problem solvers and to deal with such issues as sustainabledevelopment, green economy, corporate social responsibility, energy policies and alternative energydevelopment, and strategic planning and trains for leadership positions in international, provincialand local government agencies, as well as non-government organizations (NGOs), internationalagencies and private corporations.

The Curriculum

The MDP program at Al Farabi KazNU has been developed to focus on teaching and learning the

activities, knowledge, competencies and skills necessary for young professionals who work on

developmental policy issues in government, private-corporate sectors and at international

organizations. This includes knowledge of issues related to the green economy, sustainable energy

policy and management, and urban, industrial and agricultural policy issues. The Curriculum has

been formulated, conceptualized and assessed by the International Board of Advisors with

contribution from the MDP global network partner institutions from around the world.

Five core modules supplemented with a set of elective courses have been developed in order to meet

core learning objectives. The students are being trained to understand and be able to address our

major trends and challenges, including the impact of global warming, environmental issues,

urbanization, transportation, industrial and agricultural development, and natural and man-made

disasters.

The program focuses on the development of practical competencies needed for effective formulation and management of public policies and public policy issues. In the context of Kazakhstan, the MDP/Global Classroom program will work on teaching skills and competencies needed for realization of state programs such as Kazakhstan-2050, energy and ecological security, etc.

The core set of courses deal with a set of specific professional skills, including analytical and research writing skills, leadership, effective usage of ICT, strategic thinking, team building and team management, team work, time management, training skills and problem-solving skills.

Practical field experience and expertise development are offered as a part of learning experience through case studies or capstone projects. This includes work on local, regional, national and international projects. The students have a choice of being involved in case studies and capstone projects on an individual basis or as team-based groups. Some projects are completed by joint teams from two or more institutions in the MDP network.

The MDP program at Al Farabi KazNU is also designed to provide global experience to the students through academic exchanges and taking academic courses and training at different partner institutions. Students have an option to spend an entire semester at an MDP partner institution taking course-credits towards an MDP degree. The MDP also hosts students and faculty from partner institutions for one semester or more according to specific arrangements, creating a unique international community of students and a globalized learning environment.

In order to learn from leading world-class professionals the MDP offers an opportunity to communicate with leading experts, researchers and practitioners through distance learning classes and various cutting-edge ICT platforms.

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