1. No category

The Benefits of International Development Initiatives – A Case Study of
the Centre for International Development and Training (CIDT) of the
University of Wolverhampton.
Philip N. Dearden (1)
(With contributions from Ella Haruna, Rachel Roland and Mary Surridge)
In this short presentation we want to address the question “What benefits can
a typical international development centre bring to a university?”
As
requested, we will be talking from our own personal experiences of actively
working in and being involved in the management of a university international
development centre for the past 20 years or so. The multidisciplinary centre we
are referring to is the Centre for International Development and Training
(CIDT) of the University of Wolverhampton.
For Details on the Centre see www.wlv.ac.uk/cidt
www.wlv.ac.uk/pdf/cidt-brochure.pdf
(1) Philip N. Dearden, Head of CIDT, University of Wolverhampton. [email protected]
or [email protected]
1
In order to try and make sense of our own very personal experiences we do however
want to try and structure these within an academic framework. In September 2013 the
UKs Department for Business Innovation and Skills published a very interesting and
informative Research Paper (BIS Research Paper 128) entitled the Wider Benefits of
International Education in the UK.
A wide variety of benefits were identified, which were classified at the highest level by
beneficiary and then by type. Benefits for the UK as host country were sub-divided into
‘economic’ and ‘influence’ sub-groups.
The ‘internationalisation’ benefit on UK HE institutions and the student community from
the presence of international students was interestingly excluded since this would have
required wider research, but could, the authors believe, be inferred.
The benefit typology in Figure 1 arose from the researcher’s interview information,
although, as was noted, this model built upon previous understanding of broad types of
impact, particularly de Wit’s rationales for international Higher Education (de Wit, 2002).
We have found this “Benefit Typology” helpful and want try and structure our own
experiences around a slightly adapted version of this model. However, before we explain
the adapted model, we need to introduce you to the Centre that we are talking about and
place it within the UK University International Development context.
2
The Centre for International Development and Training (CIDT) of the
University of Wolverhampton.
The Centre for International Development and Training (CIDT) of the University of
Wolverhampton is an International Development Centre with over 40 years track
record of managing and supporting poverty reduction programmes and projects in
over 130 countries, see www.wlv.ac.uk/cidt and www.wlv.ac.uk/pdf/cidtbrochure.pdf. Although located within the academic framework of the University of
Wolverhampton the centre now operates as a Social Enterprise.
As we would typically and unashamedly advertise in a bid:
The Centre for International Development and Training (CIDT) is a leading centre that provides
consultancy and training services in international development. CIDT's strong multi-disciplinary
team has a well-established track record of working in over 130 countries during the last 40 years.
CIDT is a self-financing, not-for-profit organisation
The CIDT operates within an internal company structure and is highly experienced in the
contractual, managerial, operational and financial aspects of external, client-funded contracts and
projects. This organisational framework means that the CIDT is free to respond quickly and flexibly
to clients’ and partners’ needs, whilst maintaining the backing of the University’s financial and
personnel support.
3
Within the UK context CIDT is but one of many International Development Centres that
focus on what is broadly called Development Studies.
Several other notable and longstanding academic departments and teaching/ research
centres exist in other Universities, for example:
Institute of Development Studies (IDS) University of Sussex
http://www.ids.ac.uk/research
London School of Economics (LSE)
http://www.lse.ac.uk/internationalDevelopment/research/Home.aspx
School of International Development, (DEV) University of East Anglia
http://www.uea.ac.uk/devresearch/research-themes
Centre for Development Studies (CDS) University of Bath
http://www.bath.ac.uk/cds/research/
International Development Department (IDD) University of Birmingham
http://www.birmingham.ac.uk/schools/government-society/departments/internationaldevelopment/index.aspx
School of Environment, Education and Development (SEED) University of
Manchester
http://www.seed.manchester.ac.uk/research/seedresearch/
The Sheffield Institute for International Development (SIID) University of Sheffield
http://siid.group.shef.ac.uk/research/
Bradford Centre for International Development (BCID) University of Bradford
http://www.bradford.ac.uk/ssis/bcid/research/
By comparison with these centres the CIDT is much smaller and based in a post 1992
University. To date our focus has been on international development project management
and applied consultancy work as opposed to pure academic research and teaching work
and this set very much apart from them. Indeed the CIDT has very much kept alive the
applied and technical ethos of our former institutional home - Wolverhampton Polytechnic
- still fondly called “Wolves Poly” by many former graduates whom we often meet working
in developing countries around the world.
It is interesting to note that while each individual university will no doubt really appreciate
its own international development centre for the teaching and research work they do and
their alumnus relations, there appear to have been few studies to examine and/or quantify
the wider benefits of such international development centres in the UK beyond those of
simply counting international student numbers and by those involved in scoring in the
Research Excellence Framework (http://www.ref.ac.uk/pubs/2012-01/).
4
Development Studies (2) is often considered to have started in the postWorld War 2 period with the establishment of the Marshal Plan, the
foundation of the United Nations and the International Monetary Fund.
However, as has been noted by Homans (2102), the concept of the
benefits of international development perhaps date back to the early
writings of Jeremy Bentham, an eighteen century philosopher and radical
who believed in the decriminalisation of homosexuality and equal rights for
women as noted by Dolan (2014). Bentham developed the “greatest
happiness principle” (utilitarianism), equality and social justice. He also,
interestingly, coined the words “international” and “multicultural” and also
foresaw the globalized community in which we now live.
As noted by Anyangwe (2012) “internationalisation” in higher education is
also not that new. For decades - before there were economic gains to be
made from international student recruitment and possibly even before the
term was coined - the brightest and wealthiest students from many
countries (including developing countries), have gone to study abroad
including many who became presidents and chiefs of armed forces for
their nations. The international institutions selected have been as much a
reflection of the political ties between countries, as they've been an
indication of a student's personal ambitions.
In addition it’s worth recalling that many students from developing
countries were awarded scholarship to enable them to study abroad. The
Overseas Development Administration (now renamed as the Department
for International Development- DFID) funded many thousands of
scholarships through the British Council Technical Cooperation Awards. In
the 1970s and 1980s many international development centres in UK
(including CIDT) expanded to cope with the demand for international
development training.
---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------(2) Development Studies is a multidisciplinary branch of social science which examines
issues related to developing countries, especially concerning social and economic
development. Many major UK universities offer degrees in Development Studies and
associated subjects. Development Studies can commonly involve Anthropology,
Globalisation, Economics, Environment and International Development.
5
Ironically despite all the recent discussion on the internationalisation of
Higher Education (British Council 2012, Brandenburg and Hans de Wit
2013, Callan 1993, De Wit 2002, 2012 and 2013, Fielden 2007, Hudzick
2013, Knight 1995 and Woodfield 2010) there seems to have been an
almost complete lack of engagement between those involved in
“International Development” and those involved in “Internationalisation”.
As was passionately noted by Bhandari (2013) experts and practitioners in
these two fields really need to speak to each other more. At the present
time they barely communicate! This is critically important at a time when
many of the economically developed countries now have between 25 and
50% of their populations in Higher Education (Grossman 2012) but
globally only a very small percentage of the world’s population (recent
estimates are around 7%) actually has access to a Higher Education.
http://www.cgci.udg.mx/archivos/Chevening_Fellowship_intro%5B2%5D.p
df
----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------Based on a study conducted by the Organization for Economic Cooperation and
Development (OECD), 24/7 Wall St. compiled a list of the 10 countries with the highest
proportion of college-educated adult residents. Topping the charts is Canada — the only
nation in the world where more than half its residents can proudly hang college degrees
up on their walls.
http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2010/05/19/percent-of-world-with-col_n_581807.html
6
At a simple level we can see four key “benefits” of the CIDT.
7
The Perceived benefits from engagement
Development initiatives for a University.
in
International
In order to frame and illustrate some of the perceived benefits of the
Centre for International Development and Training for our own institution
we have slightly adapted the Typology of Benefits Framework (BIZ 2013)
discussed above. Figure 2 (below) is an adaptation of the Typology where
we have looked at the benefits of CIDT for our own University.
8
We will look at the four core benefits in turn.
1.
Economic Benefits to the University.
Staff in CIDT have never really felt safe in their jobs. On one level this
insecurity provides a great motivation to win business and contracts for
the centre yet that motivation is not to achieve a big fat payslip but to take
home a normal academic/university administrators salary. On another
level it’s a real worry and a job in CIDT is not the job for everyone. Taking
a hard-nosed business perspective, as typically our University Director of
Finance takes the important point is that CIDT does not lose money.
Indeed for the past 25 years CIDT has more than “paid it way”
Total income to the University from CIDT over the past 20 years now
exceeds £50m. Overheads on all staff salaries have been paid each year
to the university. In total over £2m has been paid to the University in the
past 20 years.
9
As in most self-financing University centres across the UK arguments
over the rates of overheads have raged on for many years and never
really been fully resolved. Various differing formulae exist across the
sector. Indeed in our own institution we have received very mixed
messages about the real importance of “turnover” and/or “surplus” and/or
“overheads”. In these days of proving that you are always providing Value
for Money (VfM) the issue of university overheads will no doubt continue
to occur. Remaining competitive in the market in which we work is
sometimes a real struggle with the overheads we have to pay the
university.
From our perspective we are not actually trying to make a profit (surplus)
but fully recognise that we need money for investment in new staff and
business development activity in order to continue the work of the centre.
In the past five years we have moved toward calling ourselves a Social
Enterprise and now actually trade through the Universities new Social
Enterprise bank account. This is favored by some organisations especially
the UN organizations we work for.
10
Influence – Internal, Local, Regional and National Publicity
Internal Influence
Case Study 1 – Cultural Awareness Training
An example of a benefit of CIDTs international development experience for
the wider university comes from some of the recent intercultural sensitivity
training we have been undertaking within the University. Staff managing
the University of Wolverhampton’s Staff Development Unit (SDU)
recognised CIDT’s core staff skills, knowledge and attitudes in relation to
intercultural sensitivity. They also knew of the real need for such cultural
awareness across all staff in the University. In the past two years the SDU
have internally commissioned staff of the CIDT to conduct a series of staff
training events on intercultural sensitivity. To date some 400 frontline staff
(administrators, caretakers and cleaners) and some 100 academic staff
have been trained on a short staff development course. A simple easy-toread Handbook has been produced and made available to all staff.
(University of Wolverhampton 2014).
11
Case Study 2 – Continuous Professional Development Project
CIDT staff have considerable expertise and experience in designing and
conducting Continuous Professional Development programmes. Given this
staff from CIDT were asked by the Vice Chancellor to undertake some
internal consultancy work to examine the potential for the University to
move towards new CPD markets. This six week piece of consultancy work
led to a series of some twenty recommendations being made in relation to
the design and delivery of Continuous Professional Development
Programmes in the University.
Case Study 3– Bid R Us
As part of our international development work in Nepal CIDT were
commissioned to assist a not-for-profit Social enterprise organization with
their capacity to develop bids and tenders for development projects. As a
result of this work a short handbook entitled “Bids R Us – A Simple Seven
Step Guide” was developed. This was subsequently further developed
and adapted for use within the University. A one day professional
development programme package based on it was further developed to
assist staff from other departments successfully bid for external funding.
Case Study 4 – LEAD: Leadership and Development.
LEAD – “Leadership and Development” is the Universitiy’s senior staff
development package. With considerable international leadership
experience the Head of CIDT was commissioned as an internal consultant
to assist this professional development programme. Working with external
consultants from the Leadership Foundation for Higher Education (LFHE)
some six cohorts of senior managerial staff from across the institution
have now successfully attended the Leadership Programme. Many of
these staff are having an influence in their own departments and across
the institution and having a real impact on outcomes.
12
Local and Regional Publicity
Stories from CIDT have often featured in the University, local and regional
press. These press stories often bring the University considerable kudos
for the work of CIDT. For example in 2013 the University was awarded a
Wolverhampton International Links Association Award for its international
work.
13
Graduates and Influence
In recent years a smaller number of “hand-picked” grantees have been
given Chevening Fellowships for study in the UK. Funded by the Foreign
and Commonwealth Office (FCO) these three-month Fellowships were
unashamedly “to help the FCO win friends and influence things”. CIDT
was in receipt of two FCO Chevening programmes – the first entitled
“Environmental Governance and Democracy”, the second entitled
“Government Relations with NGOs and Civil Society”. All Fellows were
high achieving experienced mid-level careerists handpicked by the FCO
with a view to them having an influence on their return home. Many
Chevening Fellows and now in very influential positions back in their own
countries.
14
While with us for their 12 week programmes each Chevening Fellow
undertook an applied attachment and/or work placement for 2 or 3 weeks.
These placements and attachments put us as a Centre in touch with wide
range of organisations and many of these contacts led to further work or
future placement opportunities for UK students..
15
Our Continuous Professional Development (CPD) programmes for
Development Professionals now span a period of some 40 plus years and
many of our graduates have had successful careers following their time in
UK or with us on a short course conducted in country.
The impact of there CPD programme may be hard to judge quantitatively
but its clear that professional development is a often a catalyst for change
and career enhancement.
16
National and International Influence
The work that CIDT has undertaken has been for a wide range of multilateral and bi-lateral agencies. Over the past twenty years we have
worked with many of the large multi-lateral agencies such as the World
Bank – International Finance Corporation (IFC), Asian Development Bank
(ADB), European Union (EU), FAO, ILO, UNDP, UNEP, UNITAR, UNWRA,
UNIDO and the World Health Organisation (WHO).
Likewise we have worked with many bilateral agencies including the
Department for International Development (DFID), Aus Aid, SNV,
FINNIDA, GIZ, JICA NZ Aid, Swiss Development Corporation (SDC).
We have also worked with international organisation such as the British
Council, Commonwealth Secretariat, CABI, CGIAR, GCARD, FASID,
FCO, ICARDA, IDRC, IPGRI, INIBAP and INASP,
17
UK Government Organisations we have worked with include DEFRA,
National Health Service, Health Action Zones, Home Office, Renewal
Academy, South Yorkshire Regeneration, SYREN, Advantage West
Midlands,
REGEN
West
Midlands,
Sheffield
City
Council
and
Wolverhampton City Council.
Private Sector Organisations we have worked with include: Baastel,
Cambridge Education Consultants, Cardo Agrisystems, Charles Kendal
and Partners, Coffey International, Crown Agents, DAI, Deloitte and
Touche, Enterplan, ICF-GHK, Harwelle, HTSPE, IDL, IHSD, LTSI, Mindthe-Gap, Mott MacDonald, KPMG, Options, Price Waterhouse Coopers,
Triple Line and WSP.
Finally we have worked with a large number of Non-Government
Organisations and Civil Society Organisations such as IMMPACT
Aberdeen University, Action Aid, IATP, Oxfam, PLAN International, Princes
Trust, Red Cross International, Sight Savers, Tearfund, Voluntary Service
Overseas (VSO), London School of Economics (LSE) and the
International Business Leaders Forum.
A large part of our work for these organisation is related to capacity
development and again while hard to capture quantitatively we are hopeful
that the effects and influence of it are notable.
18
Likewise our work often gives us access to senior staff including Ministers
and other politicians. Many of these have been, and are, very influential.
We must mention the Rwandan Prime Minister Dr Pierre Damien
Habumuremyi who has been very supportive of our work in Rwanda. We
must of course give a special mention to Clare Short who for many years
was Minister of International Development and responsible for the
establishment of DFID and all the massive changes we have seen since
1997. Clare’s early work in DFID set about the required changes and set the
target to slow increase international development spending to 0.7% GDP.
Only this week has this been fully approved and we are hopeful that on the
1st June 2015 this will be made law. Clare was also a local Birmingham MP
and a great supporter of the University. Here she is giving a talk to our
Chevening Fellows. Likewise we must also mention Mike Foster who
happens to be an Alumni of the University. Here he is, at the University,
talking to a group of senior staff from Bangladesh.
19
Benefits to international graduates.
Over the past 40 plus years we have had many “graduates” who have left
UK with fond memories of CIDT and their own Master’s degree or short
Professional Development Programme. We know of many ex-students
who have had a big influence in their own countries.
A simple case study of in the newly formed country of South Sudan
perhaps bests illustrates this. In November 2011 staff from CIDT were
asked to undertake some consultancy work in Juba of South Sudan. This
opportunity gave us the opportunity to be in direct contact with students
who had graduated from our Masters degrees between 3 and 14 years
previously to follow up with them and their careers and lives.
20
The two CIDT MScs (I) in Development Education and Training (1993-2003, then
(ii) Leadership for Development (2003-2008) were degrees designed for people
working in international development and particularly for nationals working in their
own country to reduce poverty. CIDT had the chance to co-sponsor some
students from Sudan who were working for non-governmental organisations in
country, on directly relevant poverty reduction issues. Although CIDT is a selffunding Centre within the University, we waived fees for these students, given the
need in Sudan for qualified professionals and they received a small bursary from
a University of Wolverhampton students fund, the Steve Biko Trust towards their
living costs. Thus CIDT staff have always felt a particular affection for this cohort
of students.
As borne out by our faith in them, over the years these students made a distinct
impression on us because of their passion to build a better tomorrow through
public service in their country (now countries) and because of their hard-working,
dedicated stance towards the subject matter of international development.
The list below shows the current career status of some of them and is up to date
as far as is known. Staff have kept in particular touch with three students through
the recent violence in South Sudan.
Name
Nyandeng Malek
Deliec
Adel Sandrai
Ismail Abdulla Lado
Charles Loker
Margaret Mathiang
Joyce Taban
Hillary Lohinei
Michael Lopidia
Mary Lokoyome
Elizabeth Awate
Lucia Jovani
Current whereabouts/job title/role
Governor, Warrap State, South Sudan. The first Dinka woman to
achieve such leadership status
Minister of Education, Science and Technology in Western Equatoria
State, South Sudan
UNDP Malakal Governance project , South Sudan
Ministry of Youth, Sport and Culture, Juba, Board member Manna
Sudan. Educational charity, South Sudan
Has been the undersecretary in the ministry of Gender, child and
social welfare. Member of the National Constitutional Review
Commission.
Working for AED, South Sudan
Livestock officer for FAO, South Sudan
Chief of Party, Wildlife Conservation Society officer working alongside
Parks people in Jonglei state, South Sudan
Working for UNFPA, Juba, South Sudan
Working for Sudan Farm, NGO, from Juba, South Sudan
UNDP Governance programme, Torit, “Rule of Law” Officer, South
Sudan
International Development Benefits.
In the BIZ 2013 Framework the terminology used in the fourth box was “Benefits to
Country of Origin” We have adapted this to “International Development
Benefits”.
“International Development Benefits” is of course core to CIDTs mission and simply
“what we do”. As a self-financing centre all CIDT staff have to be regularly involved
in a number of international development initiatives. Some of these are short
international development consultancy jobs or capacity development training
programmes, some are the management of longer term development programmes.
We have chosen four of our larger programmes in three countries to illustrate the
impact of our work. All of these progammes, which in total represented a total income
of over £25m, involved a series of long and expensive competitive tender processes.
The first example we have chosen is that of CIDT’s management and capacity
development work for the DFID funded Livelihoods and Forestry Programme in
Nepal.
Prior to our management of this large (£14.5m) DFID funded programme, CIDT staff
had been involved a number of development capacity programmes in Nepal. Indeed
we had been involved in Nepal for over 30 years. See http://www.wlv.ac.uk/aboutus/news-and-events/latest-news/2013/april-2013/new-partnership-with-nepaleseenvironmental-specialists.php
22
In 2009 Vijay Shrestha the Deputy Programme Coordinator of the Livelihoods
and Forestry Programme (LFP), completed a master’s degree in CIDT at the
University of Wolverhampton.
Since graduating Vijay has worked with CIDT as the Programme Manager for
the Department for International Development funded Livelihoods Forestry
Programme.
See https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=eI9ZeR929G8
As reported in the DFID Project Completion report in 2013 this development
programme successfully generated employment for over 2.8 million people (of
whom 85% were poor or excluded people) and helped lift over 1.3 million
people out of poverty in Nepal.
In order to achieve this Vijay worked tirelessly over the lifetime of the
programme leading and inspiring a team of over 130 programme staff - often
through insecure times and very difficult political situations in Nepal.
Over time the highly successful Livelihoods and Forestry Programme became a
"DFID Flagship programme" and was visited by no less than six UK DFID
23
Ministers from Claire Short (2003) through to Andrew Mitchell (2012).
23
In the words of the Head of the Department for International Development in Nepal "the
internationally-recognised success of Nepal's community forestry sector recognised
globally, owes much to Vijay Shrestha". Vijay has truly inspired and mentored many,
ensuring that the next generation of community forestry leaders are ready to take up the
challenges ahead.
With good management UK Aid (tax payer’s) money from DFID has effectively and
efficiently reached the very poorest in Nepal where it has made an enormous difference.
Working with CIDT staff at the end of the programme, Vijay helped collate and document
all the experiences of the Livelihoods and Forestry programme and these have been
published in "A Decade of the Livelihoods and Forestry Programme".
http://www.msfp.org.np/uploads/publications/file/A%20Decade%20of%20LFP,2013_2013
0429104434.pdf
In 2013 Vijay was awarded the University of Wolverhampton Alumni of the Year Award in
the
category
of
“Making
the
Biggest
Contribution
to
Society”.
http://issuu.com/universityofwolverhampton/docs/wlvlife_issue05_-_for_web/23
In 2014 he was made an honorary Doctorate by the university.
http://www.wlv.ac.uk/about-us/news-and-events/latest-news/2014/september2014/honour-for-university-graduate.php
As was reported in Vijay’s Encomium, his work for the poorest and excluded in Nepal is a
wonderful tribute to the real values of the University of Wolverhampton.
Of course with reference to the Benefits Typology framework it can be argued that this
example of a large international development programme managed by one of our exstudents synergistically hits all four of the core boxes.
Clearly some good international development work has been achieved, Clearly Vijay has
benefited personally from his Masters degree, and clearly the University has gained both
economically and in its influence.
Economically CIDT received a management fee for all the work undertaken and the
University took its fair share of staff overheads charged on all CIDT staff.
In terms of influence it of course hard to measure. However the visit of both our University
Chancellor and Vice Chancellor to Nepal to help celebrate the success of the programme
helped ensure some of the secondary boxes in the framework were all firmly ticked. This
notably includes those of “Influence during capacity development work”, “Promoting Trust
and the University Brand” and “Helping build a network of Ambassadors”.
24
Some of the UK based Capacity Development programmes of the
Livelihoods and Forestry Programme gave many of our students an
opportunity to have a wide influence. Over the past five years a number of
our study fellows have attended Chatham House as an integral part of
their programme. A number of them have made influential presentations at
events at Chatham House.
25
In a similar vein of influence some of our work has lead to real
international networking opportunities. For example our work with the
Forest Governance Markets and Climate programme over the past five
years has given an opportunity to host several annual
international
gatherings of Civil Society Organisation (CSOs) and Non Government
Organizations (NGOs) involved in this important international work.
26
In 2011 a number of CIDT staff were involved the design of an innovative DFID
sponsored Climate Fund (the Strategic Climate Institutions Programme SCIP) in Ethiopia.
(See http://projects.dfid.gov.uk/project.aspx?Project=201866). Following on from this
work CIDT won a grant from ‘CDKN’ to develop a detailed plan as to how a similar
innovative fund could work in Rwanda. In 2012 CIDT – as a result of a competitive
tendering process - was awarded a £2.5m contract by the Department for International
Development to support the operationalization of a national fund for climate and
environment over 3 years from October 2012 – September 2015.
From 2012 CIDT supported the establishment and operationalization of the Fund and
continue to provide ongoing support to the national team that manages the Fund on a
daily basis. CIDT identified a team of national staff, and this Fund Management Team
ensures that the process of screening projects and disbursing finance is effectively
managed. In the initial phases of operationalization, awareness raising and technical
assistance to support submission of good proposals was critical. CIDT main activities
initially were the staffing and setting up the FONERWA offices, financial systems and
grant application processes as well as identifying a pool of call down consultants to
provide technical assistance for project development.
The purpose of the Fund is to facilitate and coordinate access to domestic, bilateral,
multilateral and international climate funding streams and align them with national
development programmes that contribute to low carbon development and climate resilient
growth in Rwanda. With over $75 million raised through seed capital from the UK
Department for International Development, revenue from the Government of Rwanda,
and other external finance leveraged, the Fund has potential to change lives with millions
of dollars committed across 20 projects.
27
The Fund was officially launched by Prime Minister Anastase Murekezi in October
2014. CIDT continues to provide technical assistance and capacity building for
FONERWA, working towards on-going sustainability of the Fund (beyond initial
DFID capitalisation). Capacity for managing the Fund is being built ready for full
transfer to the Government of Rwanda in September 2015. It becomes increasingly
important that results from the Fund are effectively and transparently monitored and
lessons disseminated and systems for this are being built and strengthened.
Rwanda is highly vulnerable to climate change in terms of increased intensity and
unprectability of precipitation on its hilly geography and it’s strongly reliance on rainfed agriculture both for rural livelihoods and its significant exports of tea and coffee.
The threat of floods and soil loss and then droughts are very real. The country has
experienced a temperature increase of 1.4°C since 1970, higher than the global
average.
As a cross-sectoral financing mechanism the Fund has the potential for huge impact
at the national level, to achieve development objectives of environmentally
sustainable, climate resilient and green economic growth. As well as natural
resource management in the water catchments encouraging low carbon transport,
energy production and architecture in the urban areas in close collaboration with the
private sector is a key feature of the fund. It is also ground-breaking on the
international stage, attracting a recent visit from a team from the Green Climate
Fund (the financial mechanism of the UN Framework Convention on Climate
Change).
28
Climate compatible development asks policy makers to consider ‘triple win’ strategies that result
in low emissions, build resilience and promote development simultaneously. CIDT is leading a
further CDKN-funded project to capture, synthesise and share country solutions and best
practice emerging from national-level climate change planning in four Africa countries (Ethiopia,
Kenya, Mozambique and Rwanda) At least four ‘knowledge’ products per country have been
developed, including nationally-owned country reports, case studies and ‘talking heads’ videos
from national level climate compatible development planning.
During the training of FONEWRA staff and Rwandan consultants (supported by DFID and
CDKN) a new Climate Change Rwanda Case study was developed for the CIDT Hand Book
“Project and Programme Thinking Tools”. This revised CIDT handbook was used as the core text
to teach Project and Programme Management on a three day residential course at Cumberland
Lodge to some 80 LSE MSc students 15-18 January 2015. It will be also be used for the training
of 50 international Improving Forest Governance participants in CIDT in May/June 2015 (See
course Leaflet). Earlier editions of this handbook have been used for the training of staff in DFID,
FAO, UNIDO, WTO and many CSOs/NGOs globally. The handbook has also been converted
into a new on line training package for the Organisation for Industrial Development of the United
Nations and for CIDT.
CIDT has been recognised as one of the organizations helping the Government of Rwanda to set
the economy on a low carbon and climate resilient development trajectory. FONERWA is showcasing excellence in a highly innovative field, and the FONERWA experience is of great interest
to other developing countries and donors. There is a growing recognition amongst both donors
and recipients that a coordinated, streamlined approach to climate financing is needed to
respond to developing countries’ adaptation and low carbon needs. In the words of President
Kagame, “If Rwanda can do it, anyone can do it.”
There have already been a number of spinoffs for Rwanda. In recent months the Director
General of REMA has agreed to let Rwanda be a laboratory focus for a group of international
actors and CIDT will facilitate a south-south learning event in July this year based on the
Rwandan experience and sharing of good practice lessons. Beyond CIDT’s influence, Rwanda’s
climate change practices have become a leader in the field and often have lesson learning
missions from individual countries come to consider how to adapt their successes for their own
counties.
While the international development impact is yet to really be fully realised the potential
influence of the FONERWA programme is already clear to see. Likewise the secondary impact of
CIDT’s capacity development work for the University will no doubt be seen in years to come.
The Climate and Development Knowledge Network supports decision-makers in designing and delivering climate compatible
development. The Climate Development Knowledge Network is managed by an alliance of organisations led by
PricewaterhouseCoopers
http://www.wlv.ac.uk/media/wlv/pdf/CIDT-Handbook-Thinking-Tools.pdf
http://cidt.org.uk/2015-improving-forest-governance-programme/
http://webarchive.nationalarchives.gov.uk/+/http:/www.dfid.gov.uk/Documents/publications/toolsfordevelopment.pdf
http://desqie.myzen.co.uk/external/unido/pilot/#home
http://desqie.myzen.co.uk/external/cidt/latest/#home
29
Case Study 3 - The Jamaican All Aged School Project (2000 – 2004)
and recent Curriculum development work for the Ministry of
Education (2012-14).
As noted by DFID (2013) education is fundamental to development. A good education is
both a human right and an investment for sustainable development. It is a global public
good and a necessary ingredient for economic development and poverty reduction.
Education enables people to live healthier and more productive lives, allowing them to
fulfil their own potential as well as to strengthen and contribute to open, inclusive and
economically vibrant societies.
Learning propels the transformational potential of education to contribute to better
governance, more peace and democracy, political stability and the rule of law. Taken
together, evidence suggests that a quality education can enable people to shape,
strengthen and contribute to the building blocks of open economies and open societies.
Education is also an essential part of responding to current and future challenges, from
demographic and climate change, to rising inequalities within and between countries.
For education to maximise its transformational potential, children need not only to be in
school but also learning.
In 2000 Jamaica was facing a learning crisis; too many children in school were learning
little or nothing at all. There were many children who were not completing the primary
cycle. Responding to this challenge was the Jamaican All Aged School Programme
(JAASP). This was a five year DFID funded programme (£3.5m) to assist the 52 poorest
schools in Jamaica.
30
The overall Goal of the programme was to improve the lifetime opportunities
for poorer rural children. This was measured by an increased number of
children from poor communities finding employment or accessing higher levels
of education.
The specific purpose was simply “Better education for children from poor, rural
communities” and this was measured by a series of important indicators.

An increase in the number of students reading at or above grade 4 level.

An increase in scores attained in core subjects at Grade 6 and 9 levels.

An increase in school attendance.

An increase in the number of students completing 9 years of schooling.

An increase in pupils progressing to secondary school.
Huge improvements were made and the programme was jointly considered by
the Jamaican Ministry of Education and DFID to be very successful.
See http://www2.wlv.ac.uk/webteam/international/cidt/cidt_closertohome.pdf
31
In 2011-15 staff from the CIDT were back in Jamaica working on the
Education Transformation Programme, helping facilitate the development
of new Primary and Secondary Curricular for the Ministry of Education.
This work was funded by the International Development Bank (IADB)
The Primary Curriculum (Grades 1-6) and Secondary Curriculum (Grades
7-11) were revised and updated ensuring coherence, progression and
alignment between and within all subjects and the development and
piloting of three national diagnostic and attainment tests and national
school leavers certificate. (Jamaican Curriculum Framework Ministry of
Education 2014)
The CIDT staff role included planning and review meetings with the
Ministry of Education, presentations to the Minister, design of the
curriculum framework, wider stakeholder consultation, development of a
teacher‐training programme, and the development of piloting protocols
and implementation plans.
This work led to new updated curricular which are now being piloted in
selected schools across the country.
32
Progress on getting children into school has demonstrated what sustained
national and international investment can achieve. Clearly however more
needs to be done, and sometimes done differently, to ensure all girls and
boys can access a quality education and learn. This includes addressing
underlying
causes
of
disadvantage,
including
gender
disparities,
geographic isolation, disability, ethnic and linguistic disadvantages.
While it’s still too early to measure success, the ultimate impact of this
new curriculum development work with the Ministry of Education will be for
a whole generation of Jamaican children to have a better, more relevant
and up to date and challenging education than previously.
33
Conclusions - The need for questioning the current state and role of
“Internationalization” and the importance of linking it to International
Development now and in the future.
The three case studies above have hopefully highlighted the key benefits of
“international development” work for Universities. While the benefits maybe clear
for some, where does this all leave us in relation to the current
“internationalisation” agenda?
Since the marketisation of the higher education sector, the rising costs of a
university education and the diminishing support of many governments through
the public purse, universities - old and new - are rightly or wrongly actively
pursuing a range of internationalisation strategies. Indeed it’s been noted that
everyone is now talking about internationalisation. The global competition for
talents, the emergence of so called “flying faculties”, of international branch
campuses, transnational education, the debate on use of agents for recruitment
of students, the internationalisation of the curriculum. These topics are not only
being debated in the UK but more widely across the globe.
34
European, Northern American and Pacific universities are now all
embracing the international agenda. Likewise so are the emerging
economies in Asia, Latin America, and the Middle East who have become
pro-active in stimulating the internationalisation of their education. The
boundaries between resource countries and target countries of
internationalisation have, in recent years, become blurred. The new key
players in higher education (India, China and Brazil) reflect wider
geopolitical shifts and global developments. The positive conclusion one
could draw from this picture is that internationalisation is on the rise in
higher education.
However to still see internationalisation as simply synonymous with
international student recruitment is both a limited approach and, as noted
by Anyangwe (2012) one now rather loaded with concerns over neocolonialism and imperialism. The international student number “bean
counters” in our institutions need to be challenged to think broader and
wider. While not denying the importance and good work of international
offices in our universities, internationalisation has to rapidly move out of
these offices and become part of curriculum development, quality
assurance and faculty development. Likewise we need to move away from
extractive research and speak more of real international partnerships
based on some real solid principles.
Qatar, Singapore, the United Arab Emirates and China have all promoted internationalisation in
national policy, including inviting prestigious foreign universities to establish local campuses. In all
cases, for students in the host country, this form of education is likely to be more accessible and
cheaper than travelling to the UK or the US, while still allowing them to benefit from an institution’s
high “brand value”.
35
Finally those of us working in International Development in Higher
Education need to be asking critical questions about the broader
implications and relevance of our own home institutional
internationalisation agendas. We need to urge others to start moving away
from simple international recruitment to genuinely providing solutions for
global, national or community-level problems. While those of us involved
in international development may be relatively good at guiding those in our
own areas of work (see for example Geddes (2015)) we need to think
broader. We need to consider for example to what extent are we guiding
our future internationally mobile students to think about the Education for
All initiative or the Millennium Development Goals (MDGs) or the new
forthcoming Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) as a frame of
reference for selecting their future course of study and professional
careers? Of course the personal selection of a place and/or field of study
will ultimately be an individual one, driven by personal and professional
aspirations. We do perhaps however have a role to play in shaping the
next generation's thinking about how their learning can help solve some of
the world's most pressing development problems. We need to question
and carefully consider how we can help future students receive the right
learning outcomes that make them ready for a world that is more and
more interculturally and internationally connected.
36
For this all to actually happen we believe that firstly need to rethink and
redefine our current understanding of internationalisation and really
consider international development as an integral part of it.
Looking to the future this simply has to be the case. As has now clearly
been demonstrated by a number of demographers (World Population
Trends 2050 Economist 2012) virtually all population growth in the future
will be in the “less developed countries”.
This may be a case of back to the future where over time the term
“Internationalisation” may well actually come to mean “international
development”.
37
Clearly looking ahead the future is clear. All internationalized universities
need to be looking towards Asia and then increasingly towards Africa. This
means international development will be key.
38
In conclusion its clear to us looking briefly at the dramatic demographic predictions
of the future that “internationalization” and “international development” MUST
be linked.
The sub title of this conference is “The Competitive Edge”. If we are to keep that
competitive edge two things are required:
Firstly all our universities really do need to be producing “global citizens” who have
a real understanding of International Development and its importance. This of
course includes the important topics of equality, “the bottom billion”
and
sustainability.
Secondly we need to be aware that in the future if students from developing
countries do not come to UK, USA and/or European institutions then we may well
collectively start “losing out” to the new rising universities in countries like India
and China who may well start offering real benefits of their own to students and of
course may well be backed by real incentives from their own increasingly powerful
39
governments.
39
40
41