International development and sustainability (Bachelor level)

The term international development evokes different associations. Some might think of the posters of humanitarian aid organizations depicting smiling children in Africa; others relate it to big international projects for technology transfer, be it a steel plant in India or gigantic wind farms and photovoltaic plants in Namibia that are envisioned to produce the hydrogen needed for Europe’s green transition. And yet others want to debunk the understanding of development as aid or assistance by the “rich” Northern countries to the ”poor” Southern countries altogether. The emergence of new major global economic powers like China has jumbled up perceptions of who is rich and poor, and of who develops whom. And in the face of planetary crises like climate change, few deny that sustainable development must be understood as a global challenge that requires profound transitions both in the Global North and South.

In the ever more complex debate on development, this course aims to provide orientation. You will engage with the paradigms that have shaped development thinking and practice from the colonial period until today; you learn about the institutional architecture, stakeholder landscape, governance structures, funding mechanisms and metrics of international development. The course requires you to think beyond technological fixes for societal problems and demonstrates how this kind of thinking has oftentimes failed and came with pernicious societal and environmental consequences in the history of international development. The course shows that “scientific” theories about society, for example the growth theories and market models devised by economists, are more than external analyses – they shape the very socio-economic realities they are meant to represent.

But the course also looks forward. We explore ways to understand local implementation contexts on their own terms in order to design appropriate and systemic interventions. You will get an idea of how you, as engineers, can employ your specific technical knowledge in the context of international development. You will also learn how to put your thoughts and ideas on development on paper. The course typically attracts students who display a high degree of interest, engagement or even activism concerning issues of global sustainability and justice. Some of the students write their thesis on, or do an internship in countries of the Global South later, or even pursue a career in the field of international development.

This course takes you on a deep dive into social sciences and humanities research on development. It does not only train you to navigate, read and understand this literature, but also relate it to concrete case studies. For one lesson per week, you will read selected texts and answer a set of questions as preparation of an interactive classroom discussion. For the other lesson you will apply these insights on a real world case study (e.g. on India, Brazil, Tanzania) on which you will work as a group throughout the course. Based on the different case studies, we discuss different development approaches regarding the question “what does it mean for my case study and how does it matter today?”. You will get insights into the everyday work of development practitioners by different guest lecturers and – if conditions allow – exchange online with students from the countries we focus on (e.g. Brazil, Tanzania). You will write short essays on selected topic of the course that will form part of a portfolio to be submitted at the end of the course.

This course will be combined with a Writing Skills P&PD workshop. Under the guidance of a dedicated academic writing skills trainer, students will give and receive feedback on one of the essays they write for this course.

After attending the course, you will be able to...

Level of Blooms taxonomy

describe the global framework of international aid in terms of the stakeholders involved; the governance structures, funding and evaluation mechanisms, and metrics of development.

1 - remember

recognize different paradigms that have shaped development thinking and practice in the course of the last century, while differentiating the historical context in which they emerged.

2 - understand

implement insights from learning goals 1-2 on specific case studies, i.e. regarding the influence of different paradigms on discourses and practices of development in the respective context.

3 - apply

compare different development approaches and interventions regarding their social, environmental and economic impacts.

4 - analyze

evaluate how different development approaches are being implemented in practice, using real world examples.

5 - evaluate

write a reflective essay on selected topics related to international development.

Je moet voldoen aan de volgende eisen

• Ingeschreven voor een andere opleiding dan
• HBO-TOP Applied Physics, Schakelprogramma
• Geen van onderstaande cursussen mag zijn behaald
• Intern developm and sustainability (MSc) (0EM200)

• Research papers, book chapters, grey literature