This course which is common to all Global MDP programmes, aims to provide students with a general introduction to the basic core competencies and practical skills required of a “generalist” development practitioner and serves as a foundational introduction to graduate coursework in Development Practice. In this course, which is offered by the Earth Institute, Columbia University students utilise videotaped lectures and readings on the global MDP supersite, and participate in weekly online interactive discussions. Students will be exposed to the core concepts and technical skills required to solve professional problems within the field of sustainable development; they will develop practical problem-solving skills through the analysis and diagnosis of complex development challenges; they will develop a heightened awareness of the cross-cultural, multi-disciplinary, multinational dimensions of the field; they will develop a spirit of collaboration both inside and outside the classroom among peers from diverse backgrounds and distant regions through increased communication skills and social networking tools, in order to prepare them for such environments in the professional world of development practice; they will identify, create, and reflect upon “integrated approaches” and appropriate interventions that may lead to poverty alleviation and sustainable development. Course topics will be grounded in a practical, multi-disciplinary approach that will focus on the inter-relationship of each of the following core fields of study: Health Sciences: Primary Health & Nutrition, Natural Sciences: Agriculture, Climate Change, Energy, Engineering, Environmental Sciences including Biodiversity & Ecosystem Functioning, Technology and Water; Social Sciences: Economics, Education, Ethics, Gender, Policy and Foreign Aid; Management: Project Management, Community Development, Global Cooperation and Governance.

The objective of this course is to enable the students to evaluate and assess individuals, social groups and social relations and to apply participatory methodologies in community development. Topics include: Key concepts and theories of social dynamics, including culture, leadership, power and social relations within households, communities and across societal groups;  Theories of community development including community action theory, social capital theory and social network theory;  Different approaches to community development (capability, participatory, corporate social responsibility) with emphasis on key concepts such as participation, empowerment, mobilization, collaboration, facilitation etc. and development interventions and mitigation strategies relating to  marginalized and vulnerable populations; Participatory  techniques relating to collection, analysis and assessment of data and information at community level, project design, planning and evaluation, Participatory approach to project planning: in-depth analysis of geographical, political, geopolitical, historical, socio-cultural and institutional landscape of a development challenge,  project design and  project cycle management, development of cohesive project proposals. These topics will be taught with case studies from South Asia.  This course will be taught in the style of interactive discussions and group work, combined with one credit worth field work in Gemidirya villages.

On completion of this course, the student will be able to assess the role of human agency in altering the fragile balance in nature and the consequences of such changes on the humans themselves. Course content will include physical processes of the earth: oceans and atmosphere, soil formation, transfers of energy and matter: energy budget, hydrological cycle, carbon cycle, nitrogen cycle, human modifications of cycles and ecosystems, stages of human cultural development and level of interaction with nature, human impacts on vegetation, soil, water, land, climate and atmosphere and consequences;  effects of rapid  population growth on environment: pollution and its impacts on the environment,  natural disasters and their impacts, global warming and anticipated impacts.

On completion of this course, students should be able to : Describe, in an overall sense, the major existing, emerging and new energy technologies and assess the overall impact of the use of non-renewable and renewable energy sources from the sustainable development point of view; Identify the adverse ecological impact of energy use, and construct suitable mitigation measures to diffuse the adverse ecological impact by carrying out extensive reference; Comprehend the social and economical impacts of energy consumption, and identify and avoid subscribing for energy intensive and hence unsustainable lifestyles in development planning or otherwise demonstrate a comprehensive understanding of energy sufficiency (conservation), energy efficiency, energy security and sustainability issues; Select appropriate select energy management tools and reference materials and perform an energy management task; Scrutinize the energy implications of development options, critically analyse the sustainability dimension of a specific energy technology or related processes/activities, and propose energy systems suitable for a sustainable Sri Lanka and the national energy policies and strategies required to make it a reality. Course content includes:

Energy basics: forms of energy, thermodynamic laws, entropy, exergy, combustion fundamentals and power; renewable and non-renewable energy sources; energy technologies in electricity generation, transport and other primary and secondary energy consumption modes; new and emerging energy technologies; ecological impacts of energy use in global and local scales and their mitigation; economic and social impacts of energy consumption; energy management: demand-side management, life-cycle assessment, energy-audits, carbon and ecological footprints, clean development mechanism; energy implications of development options in Sri Lanka: energy sources, energy technologies, energy sufficiency (conservation), energy efficiency, energy security and sustainability issues; workshop on developing sustainable energy systems in Sri Lanka via (whitepaper) drafting of appropriate national energy policy and strategies; literature survey-type project focusing on the social, economic and ecological impacts of a specific energy technology or  related processes/activities and mitigation measures (to be) adopted to diffuse the ecological impacts.

This course will impart the knowledge and skills necessary for the application of GIS technology for spatial planning and problem solving.  It provides students with a knowledge of the principles of GIS, applications of GIS in environmental planning and management, and hands-on training of software. Course content includes introduction to GIS, the main components of GIS, concepts of geographic space and time, the nature, type and quality of geographic information, data models; spatial reference systems and geo-referencing of geographic data; projections, database concepts, spatial analysis functionality (overlay, 3D modelling, spatial interpolation, etc.) ; spatial multi-criteria decision making (SMCDM); geo-visualization; output generation; spatial data sources and errors; methods of field spatial data collection using GPS; GIS applications in environmental management; independent project.  Software training forms a major part of this course.  All students are required to acquire competency in data input and analysis using the software.  The course will include a field visit to the Survey Department in Colombo.

The aim of the course is to provide students with basic knowledge and skills on key concepts of financial management, accounting, and commodities management. Upon completion of the course, the students will be able to: analyse, plan and prepare a budget for a project/firm/institution, allocate scarce resources for the most productive activities, and handle the entire process of logistics. Topics include Introduction to financial management; risk and return; Financial planning; Fundamentals of capital budgeting/ capital budgeting techniques; Capital budgeting under uncertainties; Small enterprises and their financial management of microfinance; International financial management; Concepts in supply chain management/ dimensions in logistics; Demand management and customer service; Procurement and supply chain management; Global logistics and important factors to consider; Logistic relationships and third party logistics; Supply chain information system; Network design and facility locations; Planning, developing and submission of projects.

The objective of this course is to provide students with a grounding in the functions and behaviour of the aggregate economy and the role of economic policy in directing and redirecting economic activities to achieve intended macroeconomic goals.  Upon completion of this course students will be able to explain and analyze economic activities at the aggregate level and government/public policy responses/interventions to solve major economic issues or to minimize the impact of such issues on the economies in developing countries with special reference to the South Asian region and especially Sri Lanka. The course covers the following areas. Introduction: Aggregate economic behaviour, macroeconomic goals. Major economic issues: economic growth, business cycles, inflation, unemployment, government budget deficits/surpluses, international trade deficits, capital flows. National income and expenditure: measurement, sectoral composition, income and expenditure equality, aggregate demand management policies, supply-side economics. Economic growth: sources of economic growth; labour and productivity of labour, investment and capital, technology and R&D, good governance, costs of economic growth, appropriate growth strategies. General price level: measurement, inflation, costs of inflation, causes of inflation, inflation and money supply, why inflation management is important. Labour market and unemployment: labour market indicators, wage determination, unemployment: types of unemployment, causes of unemployment, costs of unemployment. Public Policy Responses: Development planning and the role of government; planning process, government institutions, program implementation and monitoring, financing of public projects, Poverty reduction and income redistribution; tools and methods, institutions, growth, poverty and inequality, social security programs; financing social security programs, effects of social security programs on economic behaviour, Public policy and environment; market outcome, private and social costs, policy responses. Sectoral economic policies: agriculture; land use and land tenure policies, pricing and marketing, extension services, food security,  industry and services: industrial policy changes, investment and incentive policies, regulations, foreign trade and investment; trade policy changes, labour migration, foreign investment promotion, rural and urban development policies; institutions, programs, target groups, financing of projects. Politics and policy making: public choice and policy making, subaltern and elite-group politics, rent-seeking, policy reversals, international policies; foreign policy and relations.

On completion of this course, students will be able to analyse the concept of women’s rights and its impact on development processes and demonstrate how gender issues can be incorporated in project planning and advocacy efforts. Course content includes Introduction to human rights and UDHR: Introduction to Gender: Gender Concept and relevant Terminologies; Gender Equality and Equity; Cost of Gender Inequality; Feminist Theories on Development; Gender Mainstreaming and Gender Budgeting: Defining the terms; their applicability for development; Gender and Human Rights Approach to Development. Introduction to conflict: defining conflicts; armed conflict and other conflict; gender dimension of conflict and its impact on development; Personal Case Study: Self-Assessment. Candidates will carry out a self-assessment of how they have internalized concepts learnt in the course.

This course aims to provide an overview of Sri Lankan agriculture, its impact on sustainable economic development of the country, and factors influencing the agricultural, fisheries and forestry sectors and environment of the country. The course is expected to serve as a foundation course to understand the major impacts of agriculture on the environment and sustainable development of the country. Course content includes Components of agriculture (food crops, animal and fisheries production), forestry and environment in Sri Lanka: Contribution of agriculture and forestry to national economy: Sustainable agriculture and sustainable development: Agro-climatic zones and agro-ecological regions of Sri Lanka: Factors affecting agriculture and fisheries production, and Forestry: Farming systems: Biodiversity in Sri Lanka: Climate Change and its impact on the biodiversity and sustainability of farming systems: Food and nutrition security in Sri Lanka.

On completion of this course, students will be able to identify the determinants and constraints affecting the decision-making process of poor households in developing countries with regard to the different areas of human development and be able to critically evaluate policy options. The course covers the microfoundations of development economics, focusing on microeconomic approaches to understanding households, markets and institutions in developing countries. The course will also introduce key methodological issues, especially regarding avoiding biases and establishing causal relationships. Topics include fertility decisions, education, health and nutrition, intra-household issues, agriculture, labor and land markets,  savings, risk, insurance, credit markets, institutions and social networks.

The aim of this course is to provide students with a comprehensive and indepth knowledge and skills on the appraisal of projects using benefit-cost analysis and other methods under assumptions of certainty and conditions of uncertainty. The course will draw heavily on methods and tools microeconomics. Upon completion of this course, the students will be able to undertake ex-ante and ex-poste appraisals of both private and public projects, programmes and policies. The students will have acquired an expertise in the field of project, programme, and policy appraisal upon completion of the course. Areas covered include: Introduction to project appraisal and benefit-cost analysis; Identification of Projects; Method of Project Appraisal: Cost-benefit analysis, logical  framework analysis, cost-effectiveness analysis; Basics of benefit-cost analysis: conceptual foundations of benefit-costs analysis, basic microeconomic foundations of benefit-cost analysis; Valuing benefits and costs in primary markets; Valuing benefits and costs in secondary markets; Discounting net benefits: discounting benefits and costs in future time periods, the social discount rate; Risk and uncertainty: types of risk, dealing with uncertainty, expected value, sensitivity analysis, the value of information, option price and option value; Valuing impacts in nonmarket goods and services: valuing impact from observed behavior, valuing impacts from unobserved behavior; Indirect market methods: existence value, contingent valuation; Using surveys to elicit information about costs and benefits, shadow prices from secondary sources; Project Implementation, Management and Monitoring: Progress review, Post Evaluation.

In most developing countries, economic development is hampered by a wide range of public health problems. Nutritional problems, neglected tropical diseases, emerging and reemerging infectious diseases, epidemics of non-communicable diseases and public health problems associated with changing population dynamics are the main threats to the development of those countries. Future managers of developmental practice should have a comprehensive understanding of public health problems, which is an integral part of sustainable development. At the end of the module, participants will be able to: describe the concept of health and core functions of public health; describe the effect of social determinants and equity in public health; apply the principals of basic epidemiology in control and prevention of public health problems; describe approaches to assess nutritional status in communities and practices to combat nutritional problems; explain the leading causes and programs/policies to prevent maternal and child health problems; describe the burden of communicable and non-communicable disease burden and preventive strategies; and describe the impact of population change on health of the people.

 

Pre-MDP Courses

Elective (optional) courses