Asia-Pacific Policy Lab

1.5 Credits · Level: Graduate

Why do environmental policies work or not work in practice, and how can reforms improve them? Based out of Georgetown’s new location in Jakarta, Indonesia, the Georgetown Asia-Pacific Environment Policy Lab seeks to answer these questions and equip graduate students with the skills to undertake applied research in environmental policy. This lab is part of a long-term, continuous initiative that will focus on major environmental issues under real-world conditions. The educational approach integrates classroom policy analysis training with practical field research and interactions with policymakers actively involved in these issues. Students will choose to work on one of two projects related to either critical minerals mining or rainforest biodiversity protection and their intersections with poverty. For the mining project, students will engage in analysis and fieldwork focusing on the economic and social makeup of the mining sector in Indonesia, including how policy can address environmental and social concerns caused by mine closings, poor mining regulation, and the downstream impacts of legal and illegal mining, but also some of the more innovative and creative solutions to Indonesia’s Just Energy Transition Partnership program. For students interested in biodiversity protection, the class will include mentored small group fieldwork intended to sharpen the understanding of topics such as community natural resource management, nature tourism trade-offs, gender and the environment, and whether debt for nature swaps can be made to work. In this early phase of the labs, students will help design the approach, problem statement, and methodology of the labs from the inception of the projects. The projects may be subject to change based on availability and other considerations. Travel to Indonesia will be required as a condition for joining the course. While travel costs to Jakarta and living expenses will be the responsibility of students, travel expenses to field sites will be covered by the projects. Due to limited resources, interested students must submit an application that will be made available to students via their GSFS program advisors. Enrollment is contingent upon submission of the application and acceptance by the selection committee. MSFS-5450-01 is the Classroom-based Module 1 Analysis part of the policy lab experience that takes place in Jakarta from January 8 to February 28, 2025. Students enrolled in MSFS-5450-01 must also enroll in MSFS-5450-03: Asia-Pacific Environment Policy Lab: Module 1 Fieldwork, which is the accompanying fieldwork component of the policy lab.