Advanced P&I, Spring 2015
Brandeis University
The Heller School for Social Policy and Management
Sustainable International Development Programs
HS 337f
Advanced Planning & Implementation: Issues in the field
Syllabus: Spring 2015 (Module II)
Location: Heller-Brown 163
Instructor: Marion W. Howard
Office: Heller-Brown 158
Phone: 781-736-3794
Email:
Office hours: By appointment
UNIVERSITY NOTICES
1. If you are a student with a documented disability on record at Brandeis University and wish to have a reasonable accommodation made for you in this class, please see me immediately.
2. You are expected to be honest in all of your academic work. The University policy on academic honesty is distributed annually as section 5 of the Rights and Responsibilities handbook. Instances of alleged dishonesty are subject to possible judicial action. Potential sanctions include failure in the course and suspension from the University. If you have any questions about my expectations, please ask.
Academic integrity is central to the mission of educational excellence at Brandeis University. Each student is expected to turn in work completed independently, except when assignments specifically authorize collaborative effort. It is not acceptable to use the words or ideas of another person – be it a world expert or your roommate – without proper acknowledgement of the source. This means you must use footnotes and quotation marks to indicate the source of phrases, sentences, paragraphs or ideas found in published volumes, on the internet, or created by another student. If you are in doubt, you must ask for clarification.
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COURSE INFORMATION
This course meets Monday night from 6:00 PM to 8:50 PM on March 16, 23, 30, April 13, 20, 27 and May 4. This course is an SID core elective. The syllabus is subject to change. When in doubt, please ask me.
Course Description
This course builds on HS279a Planning and Implementation: Concepts and Methods, which is a prerequisite for this course. It is a discussion-based course that allows students to explore the context in which development projects take place and challenges faced by project managers, executing agencies, donors, partners, stakeholders, and beneficiaries. Values and priorities --including sustainability, participation, project ownership, accountability, and legitimacy – will be examined. The course looks at changing dynamics of power, procedures, and relationships in project management. Students will also learn some of the tools currently used to supplement, or as alternatives, to Logical Framework Analysis, including the Sustainable Livelihoods Approach and the Results-Based Matrix.
Course Focus
A project is commonly defined as a series of activities aimed at bringing about clearly specified objectives within a defined time-period and location and with a defined budget. The project approach has been at the center of how development policy has been put into practice for many years. Many say the project model has been the method of choice, not because it is the most effective way to achieve development, but primarily because “it has helped meet the accountability requirements of donors” (EU 2004). Significant problems with the donor-controlled project approach have become increasingly evident. As noted by the World Bank over a decade ago: “Aid agencies have a long history of trying to ‘cocoon’ their projects using free-standing technical assistance, independent project implementation units and foreign experts – rather than trying to improve the institutional environment for service provision…. They have neither improved services in the short run nor led to institutional change in the long run” (World Bank, Assessing Aid: what works and what doesn’t work, 1998). This course focuses on examination and discussion of powers, procedures, and relationships in project planning and implementation, how these are changing, and what this means for development practitioners and the communities they serve.
Core Competency Statement
This module course teaches concepts and skills identified as core competencies for a Master of Arts degree in Sustainable International Development, which are rooted in global values of sustainable development and the social justice mission of the Heller School and Brandeis University. Students will:
- Continue to build skills needed to plan and implement sustainable projects and programs, including reflection on ethics, values, professionalism, and one’s own role in development practice.
- Better understand roles and relationships between the institutions responsible for “delivery” and “effectiveness” of development aid, including donors, governments, implementing and executing agencies, and stakeholders/ beneficiaries and what this means for the development practitioner in the field.
- Examine changing dynamics of power, procedures, and relationships in planning and implementation; both over time and also current trends, including recent global policy guidelines.
- Learn specific tools used in the planning, implementation, and monitoring of development projects and programs, including the Results-Based Matrix and Sustainable Livelihoods Approach.
- Appreciate the strengths and weaknesses of project management approaches, particularly in relation to sustainability, empowerment and marginalization, ownership, control, leadership, and accountability.
Sustainable Development Statement
In practice, achieving sustainable development at the local level depends on effective planning and implementation of project and programs. This course helps students think about how projects fit into and incorporate sustainable development objectives, and the international aid context (macro-level) that influences project effectiveness. Many projects fail to advance sustainable development. The course identifies challenges to achieving sustainable development goals and looks at ways to overcome these.
Gender Perspective Statement
Women’s leadership and active participation in project planning and implementation are crucial to development. Students will consider the impact of the changing development aid context and projects on men and women, and look at the incorporation of gender and values of social and environmental justice into development processes.
Race and Ethnicity Statement
Planning and implementation can be powerful tools in the fight against inequity, discrimination, oppression, and poverty when working with vulnerable groups. Projects can be planned and implemented in ways that help alleviate discrimination or in ways that permit or even promote inequity, disparity, marginalization, and oppression.
Course Requirements
1. Prompt arrival and attendance at all sessions.
2. Preparation of all readings.
3. Participation in class discussions.
4. Timely submission of all assignments (due date in parentheses):
- Development institution snapshot (Session 2),
- Policy memo (Session 3),
- Results-based management matrix (Session 5), and
- Sustainable Livelihoods interview and report (May 11, 7 PM)
5. Helpful, respectful attitude to all members of the class and consistently professional behavior.
Course Methods
1. Readings.
2. Lectures.
3. Discussions.
4. Individual (3) and group (1) assignments.
Your grade will be calculated as follows:
- Results-based management matrix with presentation: 25% (group assignment)
- Institutional snapshot: 20% (individual assignment)
- Policy memo: 20% (individual assignment)
- Sustainable livelihoods interview and report: 20% (individual assignment)
- Preparation of weekly readings, engagement in class discussions (skills of participation, listening, respectful response, dialogue, and critical thinking), professionalism, and attendance: 15%
You will receive feedback on your performance by Class 4. I will talk to you by Class 4 if I think you’re having trouble. If you think you’re having trouble, let me know as soon as possible. You are encouraged to talk to me immediately if you have any concerns or problems keeping up with or understanding the reading, lectures, discussions, or other requirements. You can email me at any time, set up an appointment, or visit me during office hours. If my office door is open, you can stop in. If the door is closed, I am unavailable.
For citing or acknowledging the source of ideas or material taken from published volumes, web sites, or the work of other students, use APA format. See the following websites for an introduction to APA formatting: http:// owl.english.purdue.edu/workshops/pp/APA.PPT or www.wisc.edu/writetest/Handbook//DocAPAOrientation.html
Make-up policy for late assignments: All assignments must be submitted in hard copy by the beginning of class on the due date. If a serious reason means that you are unable to finish an assignment on time, tell me in person or by email before the due date. Talk to me about a new due date. A minimum of one grade level will be deducted from the original grade of any late assignment, except in cases of emergency.
Summary of Class Schedule
Session / Date / Topics1 / March 16 / Project development model: What are the main challenges to this form of development (micro- and macro-); timeline of power, procedures, and relationships.
2 / March 23 / Donors and development: Issues with donors, partners, and other stakeholders; power and relationships, project ownership and control, accountability.
3 / March 30 / Donors and development continued: Paris Declaration and Accra Agenda, donor practices and effectiveness, logic models, results-based management (RBM) and the results-based matrix.
4 / April 13 / Executing agency and the development worker: Development workers, loyalties, and institutional role – NGOs, government, consultants; balancing power, procedures, and relationships; values and ethical issues in the field.
5 / April 20 / RBM: Group presentations of the matrix, followed by critical analysis and reflections on managing for results, aid effectiveness, and the Busan partnership document.
6 / April 27 / Sustainable Livelihoods Approach (SLA): Guidelines and examples from the field.
7 / May 4 / Course conclusion: The changing landscape of project development.
CLASS SESSIONS: WEEKLY TOPICS AND ASSIGNMENTS
Every class session centers on in-depth class discussion of the week’s readings. Therefore, you MUST finish all assigned reading before each class and read very carefully. The amount of reading is easily manageable.
Session 1: Monday, March 16
Topics: Project-based model of development: What are the main challenges, problems, and hindrances to planning and implementing projects that achieve sustainable development at the macro- and micro-levels; lessons from the field; what works; changing world of development assistance and timeline of power, procedures, and relationships.
Readings for Session 1:
- Robb, C. (2004). Changing Power Relations in the History of Aid. In Inclusive Aid: Changing Power and Relationships in International Development. London: Earthscan. pp. 21-41.
- Handout: The Dynamics of Aid: Power, Procedures and Relationships Timeline.
Assignment for Session 2:
Prepare a snapshot of a donor institution. You have been assigned a major donor institution in the field of international development. Gather information about this institution (do an internet search, talk to people you know who have worked with this institution, search for articles, etc.) and put together a 2-3 page “snapshot” (organizational profile). Institutions include: i) UN agencies - UNDP, UN Women (formerly UNIFEM); ii) multi-lateral agencies - GEF, African Development Bank; and iii) bi-lateral agencies - DFID, USAID. The snapshot can be in short answer or bullet outline. It must address the following:
1. When and how was the institution established?
2. What is its purpose and/or mission?
3. What does it do? (functions, action lines, programs, projects, etc.)
4. Where is it based and where does it work?
5. What is its internal governance structure?
6. What do people have to say about this institution’s contribution to development and working with this institution? Provide a brief review of praises and critiques of the organization (what people think the organization does well, what people think the organization does poorly, its strengths and weaknesses). Be sure to cite your source for each comment and include a list of references (not part of the page limit).
Session 2: Wednesday, March 23
Topics: Donors and development: Issues from the field, especially in regard to power, procedures, control and project “ownership”, accountability, and legitimacy; horizontal and vertical relationships at all levels; who decides?
Reading for Session 2:
- Brown, L. and M. Moore (2001). Accountability, Strategy, and International Nongovernmental Organizations. Nonprofit and Voluntary Sector Quarterly, Vol. 30, 2001. pp. 569-587.
- Eyben, R. and C. Fergusson (2004). How Can Donors Become More Accountable to Poor People? In Inclusive Aid: Changing Power and Relationships in International Development. London: Earthscan. pp. 163-180.
- Groves, L. (2004). Questioning, Learning, and ‘Cutting Edge” Agendas: Some Thoughts from Tanzania. In Inclusive Aid: Changing Power and Relationships in International Development. London: Earthscan. pp. 76-86.
Assignment for Session 3:
Prepare a policy memo for your donor institution. Based on the Easterly Williamson reading for Session 3, prepare a memo for your donor institution. First, summarize the results of the paper, identifying and then precisely explaining what you think is most essential for your agency to know. Then recommend changes (at least two) in practice that your agency should make to improve its effectiveness as a major donor institution. This memo must be written as a professional narrative, be based on evidence (results from Easterly &Williamson and your snapshot), and have a maximum of 600 words. Make every word count! You can attach a single appendix with tables and/or figures to support and strengthen the presentation of your evidence, if you wish.
Session 3: Monday, March 30
Topics: Donors and development continued: Paris Declaration and Accra Agenda, donor practices and effectiveness, what matters and whose reality, logic models and introduction to results-based management (EBM) the results-based matrix.
Reading for Session 3:
- Easterly, W. and C. Williamson. Rhetoric versus Reality: The Best and Worst of Aid Agency Practices. Development Research Institute. New York University. 77 pp. (forthcoming in special issue of World Development).
- OECD. The Paris Declaration on Aid Effectiveness (2005) and Accra Agenda for Action (2008).
Optional, for those who would like clarification about:
- International Monetary Fund (n.d.). IMF and World Bank: How Do They Differ? Washington, D.C. 14 pp.
Source: Duncan Green’s blog at http://www.oxfamblogs.org
Assignment for Session 5:
Prepare a results-based management (RBM) matrix and presentation. You will be given a problem statement. Develop an RBM matrix for a project to tackle this problem using the format distributed in class. Prepare a 15-minute presentation to explain your matrix to the class. Your RBM matrix must be in condition to print and distribute to the class, as a support for your presentation and the discussion. Please send it to me by Monday, April 20, at 10 AM for printing. You do not need to submit a concept or project, only the RBM matrix for the project. Note that you have three weeks to complete this assignment. Do not leave it to the last minute!