The Blum Center for Developing Economies is UC Berkeley’s interdisciplinary hub for students, researchers, and scholars focusing on global poverty and inequality. The Center enables interdisciplinary problem-solving in key areas such as energy, health, education, financial services, food, water, and sanitation — operating on the notion that a world-class public university must be a force for tackling society’s most urgent and important problems. Since its founding in 2006, the Blum Center’s mission has been to train people, source and support innovations, and develop scalable solutions. The Blum Center is home to several academic programs and initiatives, including:
• The Big Ideas Contest is an innovation ecosystem that provides training, networks, recognition and funding to interdisciplinary teams of UC Berkeley students who have transformative solutions to real-world problems. bigideascontest.org
• Established in the Fall of 2007, the Global Poverty & Practice (GPP) Minor — one of the largest and most popular minors on campus — gives students an opportunity to examine contemporary forms of poverty, wealth, and inequality through academic coursework and practical experience. Through GPP, students from across academic disciplines come together to think critically about issues of poverty and inequality, and investigate the ways in which the minor can supplement their major field of study. blumcenter.berkeley.edu/academics/gppminor
• Development Engineering is a new global problem solving discipline incubated at UC Berkeley. The discipline integrates engineering, economics, business, natural resource development, and social sciences to develop technological interventions that address the needs of low-income communities around the world. designated emphasis and a professional master's degree. developmentengineering.berkeley.edu
• The Health Tech CoLab is a new 3,000-square-foot collaboration space designed to advance the development of medical tools and devices to facilitate healthcare in low-resource settings.
