Dear Friends,
Welcome back to the MDP Secretariat Newsletter. I hope this letter finds you all well.
In this month's E-Newsletter, we bring you highlights of the global network of Master's in Development Practice (MDP) Programs meeting in New Delhi, India. In addition, we include a feature article on TERI University's MDP program, and a piece by Jeffrey Sachs on climate change and its critics. We also bring you 'In Their Voice', written by the first cohort of MDP students from Columbia University.
Finally, please do not forget to join us virtually on March 25, 2010 for the State of the Planet Conference. We encourage you to participate.
Best Regards,
lucia.
Lucia Rodriguez
Director of the MDP Secretariat
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Global Network of Master's in Development Practice Programs
Meeting, New Delhi 2010
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On February 4-8, 2010, over 35 faculty members from around the world came together in New Delhi, India to discuss and learn more about the global Master's in Development Practice (MDP) program. Leaders from MDP partner organizations such as CARE, UNICEF and ASEAN Academy of Engineering and Technology also participated in many of the week's activities. Some memorable highlights include: Thursday, 02/04: This global network of MDP programs meeting began on Thursday, February 4th, with a welcome dinner held at TERI University. This was
a great opportunity for 'meeting and greeting' as many of the global network members
did not know each other. Everyone ate, drank and chatted like old friends and in no time, the
evening disappeared all too quickly.
Friday, 02/05: Everyone was up bright and
early on Friday morning to attend the inaugural session of Delhi Sustainable Development Summit (DSDS).
India's Prime Minister Singh gave an inspirational speech, challenging all
attendees to acknowledge the dire situation the world is in and to recognize the need and, most importantly, our ability to change its path.
Saturday, 02/06: On Saturday
morning, the global network of MDP programs reconvened for a breakfast meeting with Dr.
Jeffrey Sachs, Director of the Earth Institute at Columbia University. Dr. Sachs began the conversation with his vision on what the global network
should strive to accomplish, suggesting many achievable goals, such as the accreditation of the global network, standardization of the MDP curriculum, and
the development of an MDP journal, among other things.
In the afternoon ocurred the launch of the the global network of MDP programs at a DSDS lunch where Dr.
RK Pachauri (Head of the IPCC), Milena Novy-Marx (MacArthur Foundation), John
McArthur (CEO of Millennium Promise), and Jeffrey Sachs each gave brief speeches.
 Sunday, 02/07: The global network of MDP programs met at TERI University for an all-day workshop to discuss topics ranging from the MDP Curriculum and Field Training Programs to Faculty and Student
Exchanges and Evaluation. During this eight hour meeting, the global network worked to lay
the foundation for what the global network really means, what it will be able to
offer its partners, and what those partners must be willing to contribute. The discussions were intense and extremely
insightful, leading to many agreed-upon goals, as well as many ideas.
Monday, 02/08: Finally, on Monday, many of the 35 global network meeting participants participated in field site visits organized by CARE. CARE graciously worked with their office in India to organize a visit to
local villages, where they are working directly with villagers to improve
health, education, sanitation and the overall livelihood of the
villagers. This was an amazing
experience and a great way to end our meeting.
We can not wait until next year, when we will meet again! For more information on joining the Global Network of Master's in Development Practice programs, please visit www.mdp.ei.columbia.edu |
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TERI University |
 TERI University has its roots in TERI (The Energy and Resources Institute), which is recognized globally for its contribution to scientific and policy research in energy, environment, and sustainable development. At TERI University, education for sustainable development is embedded in all its programmes, which are multi-disciplinary. These programmes connect socio-economics, socio-politics and science, and promote more holistic ways of thinking.
The MDP at TERI University will be offered as an MA in Sustainable Development Practice. This programme is unique in seeking to create capacity among development practitioners in South Asia and Southeast Asia to effectively address numerous sustainable development challenges in this region.
TERI University would draw upon the strengths of its partner institutes (University of East Anglia, North Carolina State University, Public Health Foundation of India, Basque Center for Climate Change and United Nations University) and TERI to blend academic rigor and practice in this programme. The cross-disciplinary curriculum would cover the four knowledge domains (health sciences, natural sciences, social sciences and management) in the first three semesters. The fourth semester would allow students to select an area of concentration (climate change, infrastructure, urban governance, renewable energy, or agriculture and food security). The areas of concentration have been identified based upon the strengths of TERI University and its partner institutes.
This programme aims to equip development practitioners with skills to handle the interwoven challenges of extreme poverty, disease, climate change, and ecosystem vulnerability, specific to the South Asian and Southeast Asian region. A true understanding of these links would come from the exposure students would get from practitioners working in the region. The element of practice is embedded in most of our courses. For instance, the course on Basics in Environmental Science, not only offers classroom based learning of key concepts and issues, but also offers field visits within Delhi so that students get to witness the different dimensions of pollution and its impact on health. TERI University is collaborating with organizations like GTZ and Toxics Link for the theory-practice connect in this course.
A distinguishing element of this programme is the group practicums, spread over three semesters. These practicums are sufficiently integrated to complete a cycle of learning beginning from problem identification and needs assessment at a community level to project management and policy analysis at a strategic level. For this, groups of students would work in different field sites in India in association with local, national and international NGOs. The group seminar that follows each practicum would provide adequate platform for learning about sustainable development challenges across various sectors and regions. The practice focus of this programme is further enhanced by a two-month internship and three-month field training. Both are intended to familiarize students with the way development practitioners operate in real life and also enable them to work on a real life development challenge with professional deliverables.
TERI University had recently organized a Curriculum Workshop (8-9 February, 2010) along with its partner institutes and representatives from international development organizations (UNDP-Bangkok, GTZ-India, CARE-India and DFID-India) for finalization of first semester courses, pre-MDP courses, field training component and the overall curriculum design. Valuable inputs received from all have helped us refine different course outlines and the field training component. TERI University is also developing one of TERI's solar lighting programme - Lighting a Billion Lives - into a case study to be used as an MDP teaching resource.
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In Their Words:
Columbia University MDP Students
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Core Curriculum
The MDP core
curriculum is focused around the health sciences, natural sciences, social
sciences, and management. Coursework offered this spring includes Global Food
Systems, Global Health Practice, and Human
Ecology & Sustainable Development.
Each course is designed to deliver practical knowledge and allows us to explore the scientific pillars of
the MDP program.
Global Food Systems
Did you know that it takes three
to seven thousand liters of water to produce a single kilogram of rice? The production of rice is just
one of the food systems explored in this spring's Global Food Systems course
taught by MDP program director Glenn Denning. Studying the interplay between
ecological, economic, and social systems and food production is essential to
understanding why hunger and malnutrition persist in a world that technically
produces enough calories to feed its human population. In this course, MDP
students survey key bio-physical resources for food production such as soil and
water, and examine smallholder farming systems, the Asian Green Revolution, and
the challenges and implications of achieving an African Green Revolution. MDP
student Eric Couper: "Before entering Dr. Denning's course, I recognized
the transformative power of agricultural interventions, however the class has
made that theory real for me. It really highlights the nuances and
challenges of a well planned approach."
Global Health Practice
Imagine that you're a development practitioner dropped into a Congolese
village, where you are expected to plan and implement health interventions for
affected communities. This is the premise of Global Health Practice, a course
designed by Paul Pronyk of the Center for Global Health and Economic
Development (CGHED) at The Earth Institute, to familiarize MDP students with
some of the most significant diseases affecting the developing world today.
Beyond pathology, participants are exposed to
the practical tools of measurement, prevention and treatment that are being
used in the field. Global Health Practice -
which divides its time between lecture, case studies, and hands on activities -
allows students to examine diseases throughout their entire lifecycles from
both a socio-economic and biological perspective. "Paul Pronyk's health
class is exactly what I hoped for and just what we need to fulfill our career
aspirations as an effective development practitioner. He exposes us to the
vanguard of practical interventions and essential working knowledge of major
causes of morbidity and mortality in a dynamic and tangible way," says MDP
student Ashley Henderson.
Human Ecology & Sustainable
Development
Is it possible for humans to live in equilibrium with the environment that
surrounds them? Human Ecology and Sustainable Development,
taught by Jeffrey Sachs, focuses on this timely question by examining the
interactions between human demographics, social systems and natural resources.
The class challenges students to explore the fundamental dynamics underlying
economic growth by asking how epidemics spread, why populations grow beyond the
capacity of their environments, and how technology impacts traditional thoughts
on development and growth. MDP student Bonita Treinen: "Perhaps the most
challenging course of the program, Human Ecology's 'big picture' perspective on
poverty and development complements our more practice-oriented coursework. As
development practitioners we may be called upon at times to influence policy on
a larger scale, and being able to draw the connections between ground level
experiences of poverty and macro level processes will be invaluable."
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For more information,
please contact:
The Global Master's in Development Practice Secretariat
The Earth Institute
Columbia University
Email: mdp-info@ei.columbia.edu
Website: www.mdp.ei.columbia.edu
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| Featured Article |
| Climate skeptics are recycled critics of controls on tobacco and acid rain
 Read the latest article by Jeffrey Sachs, Director of the Earth Institute |
State of the Planet 2010
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On March 25, 2010, The Earth Institute, Columbia University will host the Sixth State of the Planet conference.
With live discussion about the most pressing issues of our time - extreme poverty, the
economic recovery, and climate change.
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Our Rapidly Expanding University Network
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BRAC (Dhaka, Bangladesh)
CATIE (Turrialba, Costa Rica)
Columbia University
(New York, USA)
Emory University
(Atlanta, USA)
The Energy and Resources Institute (TERI) University (New Delhi, India)
James Cook University (Cairns and Townsville, Australia)
Trinity College Dublin and University College Dublin (Dublin, Ireland)
Tsinghua University
(Beijing, China)
University of Botswana (Gaborone, Botswana)
University of Cheikh Anta Diop (UCAD)
(Dakar, Senegal)
University of California, Davis (Davis, USA)
University of Denver (Denver, USA)
University of Florida (Gainesville, USA)
University of Ibadan
(Ibadan, Nigeria)
University of Minnesota (Minneapolis, USA)
University of Peradeniya (Peradeniya, Sri Lanka)
University of Waterloo (Waterloo, Ontario, Canada)
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Join the Global Network!
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The Global Master's in Development Practice Secretariat based at
Columbia University's Earth Institute, invites all interested
universities or organizations to join the Global Network of MDP
programs. Resources and services will be available to all universities
and organizations committed to cross-disciplinary, rigorous,
and practice-based training in sustainable development.
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Growing List of MDP Organizations
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Our Sponsors
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