Development Administration Planning MSc overseas practice engagements

'Development in Practice' is a core module of the Development Administration and Planning MSc where we conduct fieldwork in collaboration with partners in a postcolonial context.

About our overseas practice engagements

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Our 'Development in Practice' module is one of the core modules of the Development Administration and Planning MSc. In this module, our students take on an overseas practice engagement which includes a fieldwork component and working collaboratively with partners in a postcolonial context based on principles of a) partnership with equivalence, and b) co-production of knowledge. In our overseas practice engagements, students query the tools and approaches that are used to conceptualise, design, manage, monitor and evaluate development interventions. This is a excellent opportunity for our students to work in real world development projects with civil society organisations and either build the foundations of their careers in development or further their existing experiences as practitioners.

Previous overseas practice engagements

Discover where we've worked and the organisations we've partnered with in previous years:

2023: Sao Paulo, Brazil

Students on the Development Administration Planning MSc field trip in Sao Paolo

In 2023, Development Administration and Planning MSc students and staff collaborated with Fundação Escola de Sociologia e Política de São Paulo (FESPSP), an academic institution in the city of Sao Paulo, Brazil. Students, in groups, worked collaboratively with six civil society organisations namely Aldeia Tekoá Pyau, Ação Educativa, Casarão Brasil, Observatório Nacional dos Direitos à Água e ao Saneamento (ONDAS Brasil), Movimento dos Trabalhadores Rurais Sem Terra (MST) and Movimento dos Trabalhadores Sem Teto (MTST). Together with these organisations, our overseas practice engagement worked to six thematic areas: 

  1. Indigenous rights
  2. Access to education
  3. Queer rights
  4. Sanitation
  5. Food sovereignty
  6. Housing rights

Explore photos of the Sao Paulo overseas practice engagement on Flickr.

2022: Cardiff, UK / Kampala, Uganda

Students in a lecture hall in Cardiff making a presentation

In 2022, our overseas practice engagement was conducted in a hybrid mode due to international traveling restrictions during the COVID-19 pandemic. We collaborated with the Welsh School of Architecture, Cardiff University and Urban Action Lab, Makerere University. The civil society organisations that participated in our overseas practice engagement included ACTTogether, ACODEV-Uganda, Community Integrated Development Initiatives (CIDI), CALM-Africa, KALOCODE, Living Earth Uganda, Uganda Housing Co-operative Union (UHOCU), and Uganda Human Settlements Network (SSA:UHSNET).

Working in groups, our Development Administration and Planning students explored thematic areas including housing justice, urban data infrastructure, climate change, urban agriculture and sanitation issues. Some activities were conducted by partners in Uganda virtually, whilst others were conducted by students in Cardiff in person with our partner Ugandan civil society organisations and Urban Action Lab, Makerere University.

Explore photos of the Cardiff hybrid practice engagement on Flickr.

2020: Kampala, Uganda

In 2020, due to the COVID-19 pandemic, our overseas practice engagement was conducted in collaboration with Urban Action Lab, Makerere University virtually. The civil society organisations that participated in our practice engagement included ACTTogether, ACODEV-Uganda, Community Integrated Development Initiatives (CIDI), CALM-Africa, KALOCODE, Living Earth Uganda, Uganda Housing Co-operative Union (UHOCU), and Uganda Human Settlements Network (SSA:UHSNET).

2016 and 2019: Kampala, Uganda

Students on the 2019 Development Administration and Planning overseas practice engagement in Kampala, Uganda

In 2016 and 2019, our Development Administration and Planning MSc students examined how development intervention is planned and implemented in Kampala, Uganda.

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2011 to 2015: Ethiopia

Watch Studying development in Ethiopia (UCL) on YouTube.
 

From 2011 to 2015, our overseas practice engagements on the Development Administration and Planning MSc focused on building an understanding of the practice of development and the role of the development practitioner. 

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