Centers and initiatives

Engaging our community is one of the core functions of ASU and the School of Public Affairs.

ASU is measured not by who we exclude, but by who we include; we pursue research that considers the public good; and we assume major responsibility for the economic, social, and cultural vitality of our community.

The Alliance for Innovation, as a partnership of The Innovation Groups, ICMA, and Arizona State University, has created the widest and deepest innovation-based network serving local government. The Alliance brings professionals, local governments, academics, and private sector partners together to discover and apply the best ideas, practices and solutions to the challenges confronting local government and communities.

Bob Ramsey Executive Education is dedicated to improving the effectiveness of the people and organizations that serve communities. Through the center's programs and seminars, public service professionals can enhance their management and leadership competencies and can earn the Certified Public Manager®, Certified Municipal Clerk, or Master Municipal Clerk credential. The center also assists state, local, and tribal governments with the implementation of their staff development initiatives.

The Center for Emergency Management and Homeland Security brings together resources across disciplines to create innovative solutions for the mitigation, preparation, response, recovery and management of significant incidents or disasters—whether natural or man-made.

The Center for Organization Research and Design (CORD) promotes, supports and conducts fundamental research on public, nonprofit, and hybrid organizations and their design, focusing particularly, though not exclusively, on knowledge-based and science intensive-organizations.

The Center for Science, Technology, and Environmental Policy Studies (C-STEPS) serves as an international focal point for interaction among faculty, researchers, students, and practitioners on ideas, problems and promises at the nexus of science, technology, and the environment. Their work focuses on the study of science as a social phenomenon--science as the core of things that happen technologically, environmentally and through policy. They offer a unique research environment for faculty, graduate students, and practitioners on science, technology, and environment policy issues. The center is directed by Dr. Eric Welch; Dr. Mary K. Feeney serves as the associate director.

The Center for Urban Innovation was established as the focal point for research on urban affairs in the School of Public Affairs with a mission to improve the quality of urban life in neighborhoods, cities, and urban regions by promoting innovation in governance, policy, and management. The Center supports innovative education, critical research, and community involvement - its research and outreach are both local and global.

The Morrison Institute for Public Policy bridges the gap between academic scholarship and public policy development through its services to public and private sector clients and its independent research agenda. Morrison Institute provides services in the areas of public policy research, program evaluation, and public outreach to many types of public and private organizations in Arizona and throughout the United States.

The mandate of The Participatory Governance Initiative is to promote excellence, collaboration, and innovation in participatory governance research and practice. The Participatory Governance Initiative is a university-wide interdisciplinary space that aims at bringing together academics, students, elected and non-elected government officials, community members and practitioners interested in the theory and practice of participatory governance. Special attention is paid to the examination of emerging trends and innovative democratic experiments around the world that are relevant to the realities of governance and public engagement in the 21st century.

The Sustainable Purchasing Research Initiative is a research project within the Center for Organization Research and Design, committed to developing actionable research on how organizations can facilitate sustainable purchasing.