Centers and Initiatives
The School’s research centers and initiatives enrich our understanding of important public policy issues as well as to generate and implement solutions. These centers also provide policy relevant research opportunities for faculty and students.
Dukakis Center for Urban and Regional Policy
The Dukakis Center conducts interdisciplinary research, in collaboration with civic leaders and scholars both within and beyond Northeastern University, to identify and implement real solutions to the critical challenges facing urban areas throughout Greater Boston, the Commonwealth, and the nation.
Founded in 1999 as the Center for Urban and Regional Policy or CURP, the Dukakis Center is equally committed to producing state-of-the-art applied research and to implementing effective policies and practices based on that research.
In November 2008 the Center was renamed in honor of Kitty and Michael Dukakis for the extraordinary work that both of them have done to make the City of Boston, the Commonwealth, and the nation a better place to live and work.
Center for Labor Market Studies
The Center for Labor Market Studies is an applied research, evaluation, and policy-oriented technical assistance unit. It was initially established in 1979 to provide regional leadership for a three year grant that the Economics Department had received from the U.S. Department of Labor under the Institutional Grant Program. The IG program was designed by the national office of the U.S. Department of Labor to involve the nation’s universities and colleges more fully in the education, training, and professional development of staff in the human resources system at the regional, state, and local levels.
In addition to these activities, the Center began to conduct applied labor market research in Massachusetts, the New England region, and the entire country to train labor market analysts and human resource program planners on research, planning and evaluation techniques, and to assist in the development of improved labor market and occupational information systems and program evaluation systems at the regional, state, and local levels.
World Class Cities Partnership
The World Class Cities Partnership was created to bring together civic, business and academic leaders from cities spanning the globe for the purpose of creating sustainable social change through policy research, and development and implementation of best practice solutions to common challenges.
WCCP, headquartered at Northeastern University in Boston, Massachusetts, is building this network of corporate, governmental and academic partners. WCCP will be the catalyst for connecting an international cadre of municipal officials, university faculty and students, business leaders and policy innovators, all of whom share the same goal: to identify and share best practices on a range of urban issues. WCCP will analyze existing research and demographic data, social indicators, and other metrics to inform policy development and create social change.
Affiliated Centers from other schools at Northeastern: