The Bloomberg Harvard City Leadership Initiative announced a new email newsletter sharing free resources based on peer-reviewed academic research. Starting in February 2024, the newsletter will share relevant management and leadership insights in an accessible format. Action Insights—short articles summarizing peer-reviewed research—are designed to keep city leaders, students, educators, and scholars up to date on the latest findings.

Since 2017, the Initiative has conducted many empirical studies and developed curricular materials to teach the research findings. City leaders and students have applied learnings from these materials to solve public problems in practice through field courses and fellowships in U.S. and international cities. Now the research is being made available to a broader audience across the academic community and in city halls around the world.

“Our research often starts with questions that emerge in field work and executive education programs,” said Jorrit de Jong, Director of the Bloomberg Center for Cities and Faculty Co-Chair of the Bloomberg Harvard City Leadership Initiative.

“What levers can local leaders use to better diagnose and remedy urban problems? Under what conditions can cross-boundary collaboration, using data and evidence, and innovation practices lead to better outcomes for residents in cities? We’re excited to share some answers to these questions based on research that has drawn on expertise from a variety of disciplines across the University.”

The Bloomberg Harvard City Leadership Initiative is a collaboration between Harvard Kennedy School, Harvard Business School, and Bloomberg Philanthropies. It is located at the Bloomberg Center for Cities at Harvard University, which has 52 faculty affiliates from nine different graduate schools.

To kick off the email series, the Initiative is disseminating State Capabilities for Problem-Oriented Governance, published in the journal Perspectives on Public Management and Governance, which marked the beginning of the Initiative’s research on how governments can address thorny social issues more effectively. The article analyzes the state capabilities that underpin problem-oriented governance, presenting a conceptual framework for governments to address thorny social problems more effectively.

Subscribe to the newsletter here or visit the website of the Bloomberg Harvard City Leadership Initiative to explore research and resources.