F1GD 5740 - Development Cooperation in a Transforming World

***UPDATED for 2025/26***

This course is designed for students pursuing careers in international development, multilateral organizations, or development policy. At a moment when traditional development cooperation is undergoing fundamental transformation, the course examines both the crisis and opportunity facing the sector. Using analytical work from leading organizations and drawing on extensive practical experience, it provides students with frameworks to understand why the traditional aid model is ending and what might replace it.

The course moves beyond theoretical debates about development to focus on the practical realities facing development practitioners today: the collapse of traditional ODA financing, the rise of multipolar development finance, the growing assertiveness of recipient countries demanding genuine partnership, and the fundamental question of whether development cooperation as currently practiced can catalyze sustainable transformation.

Rather than teaching students what development cooperation should look like in theory, this course equips them to navigate what it actually looks like in practice – and to contribute to shaping its future.

Learning Outcomes

• Understand the historical evolution and current crisis of the traditional aid paradigm
• Analyze the political economy of development cooperation in a multipolar world
• Apply practical frameworks for working effectively in politically constrained environments
• Evaluate the changing role of multilateral organizations, particularly the UN development system
• Develop strategies for catalyzing transformation rather than managing dependency
• Design development cooperation approaches appropriate for 2030 and beyond

Professional Skills

Critical ability to analyse different arguments and sources; test and develop communication skills; teamwork

n/a

• Active workshops with emphasis on group discussions on topics
• Guest speakers/discussants with extensive country level experience in development/humanitarian settings
• Written feedback provided on all student-produced outputs
• Comments on individual and group presentation

(v) Presentation and discussion on the development cooperation policy in front of a panel of experts (in group) – 30%

• In Class Presence: 4 hours a week every two weeks / 24 hours a semester
• Reading and Preparation for Class: 2 hours a week / 24 hours a semester
• Research and Preparation for Group Work: 2 hours a week / 24 hours a semester
• Research and Writing for Individual Assessments: 3 hours a week / 36 hours a semester