Postgraduate Course: Professional Skills in Environment & Development (PGGE11267)
Course Outline
| School | School of Geosciences |
College | College of Science and Engineering |
| Credit level (Normal year taken) | SCQF Level 11 (Postgraduate) |
Availability | Available to all students |
| SCQF Credits | 20 |
ECTS Credits | 10 |
| Summary | This course will provide students with the professional and practical skills and knowledge required by employers across a range of organisations working to tackle pressing environmental and developmental challenges around the world. Visiting professionals teach the key tools and techniques they employ on a daily basis, share their expertise and diverse experience, and bring ¿real-world¿ insight to complement the academic focus of other courses. |
| Course description |
This course is designed for students wishing to work in a range of organisations tackling environment and development challenges around the world, including; governments, international NGOs, international development and donor agencies, grassroots organisations, private enterprises and research organisations. Environment and development challenges discussed through the course relate to a range of the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) and sustainable livelihood needs, biodiversity conservation, climate change adaptation, disaster risk reduction etc. The course teaches a range of technical skills and tools required by professionals in their daily work, covering all aspects of project management i.e. ¿procedural knowledge¿; it also covers so-called ¿soft skills¿ or ¿narrative knowledge¿ which are vital for project success. It also allows time for students to reflect on and plan for their own careers in this competitive field. Indicative week by week content is as follows: (1) Being a ¿professional¿: What is involved? How does it relate to academic debate? What skills do I need to build? (2) Project management I: Proposal writing, project design & budget development (3) Project management II: Theory of Change (ToC), stakeholder analysis and adaptive management (4) Project management III: Monitoring, Evaluation and Learning (MEL) (5) Project management IV: Financial and outcome reporting (6) Working in complex environments: Safeguarding, ethical engagement, adapting to context (7) Engaging with communities: participatory approaches and tools (8) Teamwork and facilitation: communication and negotiation (9) Student presentations for assignment 1 (10) Engaging in/with Policy and Public (11) Conclusions: What next?
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Entry Requirements (not applicable to Visiting Students)
| Pre-requisites |
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Co-requisites | |
| Prohibited Combinations | |
Other requirements | None |
Information for Visiting Students
| Pre-requisites | None |
| High Demand Course? |
Yes |
Course Delivery Information
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| Academic year 2020/21, Available to all students (SV1)
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Quota: 44 |
| Course Start |
Semester 2 |
Timetable |
Timetable |
| Learning and Teaching activities (Further Info) |
Total Hours:
200
(
Programme Level Learning and Teaching Hours 4,
Directed Learning and Independent Learning Hours
196 )
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| Assessment (Further Info) |
Written Exam
0 %,
Coursework
100 %,
Practical Exam
0 %
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| Additional Information (Assessment) |
ASSIGNMENT 1 (60%): GROUP PROJECT MANAGEMENT: In small groups, students will be given a mock project call and subsequently mock project information to respond to. Drawing on classes 2-5, students will be marked on submissions and a presentation related to (a) the project proposal, (b) its management and MEL, and (c) its final reporting [corresponds to LO 1 and 2 and assesses student¿s technical skills and ¿procedural knowledge¿]«br /»
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ASSIGNMENT 2: INDIVIDUAL REFLECTIVE WORK (40%): Students will be asked to write an independent reflective piece of work (2000 words) on how they personally approach and engage in professional environment and development work, considering their unique skills/enthusiasms and the techniques/approaches discussed in classes 6-10 [corresponds to LO 2 and 3 and assesses students ¿soft-skills¿ and ¿narrative knowledge¿]«br /»
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| Feedback |
Students will be provided with feedback (1) as a group at various stages of assignment 1 e.g. on their project proposal (a), and on their performance in relation to its management in MEL (b), which will help students in the final project reporting and presentation (c); and (2) as individuals on their individual reflective work of assignment 2 e.g. CO will comment on a section of this work (300-500 words) in advance of the submission date, in order to guide students in their preparation of the full assignment. |
| No Exam Information |
Learning Outcomes
On completion of this course, the student will be able to:
- Be able to apply technical skills in the use of key tools and techniques employed by a range of organisations working to tackle environment and development challenges,
- Have transferable skills in teamwork, negotiation and facilitation
- Be able to articulate their own personal approach to and strengths in engaging in professional environment and development work
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Reading List
Key texts for the course include the following: Bawole, J.N., Hossain, F., Ghalib, A.K., Rees, C.J. and Mamman, A. eds., 2016. Development Management: Theory and Practice (Vol. 128). Taylor & Francis. // Carden, Fred (2009). Knowledge to Policy: Making the Most of Development Research, International Development Research Centre and Sage. // DFID. 2002. A Tools for Development: a handbook for those involved in development activity. Department for International Development. // Hammett, D., Twyman, C., et al. 2015. Research and Fieldwork in Development. London: Routledge. // Lewis, D., 2014. Non-governmental organizations, management and development. Routledge. // Mosse, D., 2011. Adventures in aidland. The anthropology of professionals in international development. New York & Oxford: Berghahn Books. // Potts, D. (2012), Project Planning and Analysis for Development, Lynne Rienner Pub.// Scheyvens, R. (Ed.). (2014). Development fieldwork: A practical guide. Sage.
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Additional Information
| Graduate Attributes and Skills |
As this course specifically aims to provide students with a range of skills, experience and abilities that they will be able to apply in their professional lives, this course contributes directly to the graduate attributes and personal and professional skills required by students across our PGT programmes. The course will provide graduate attributes and personal and professional skills in: techniques, tools and project management skills required in a wide range of professional organisations working at the interface of environment and development challenges, from government, international development agencies, international NGOs, grassroots organisations, private enterprises and policy making. The course will also provide transferable so-called ¿soft skills¿, in collaboration and negotiation, teamwork and facilitation, problem solving and organisation and presentation. |
| Keywords | Professional skills,tools,techniques,environment,development,global challenges |
Contacts
| Course organiser | Dr Helen Cross
Tel:
Email: hcross@exseed.ed.ac.uk |
Course secretary | Ms Louisa King
Tel: (0131 6)50 2543
Email: Louisa.King@ed.ac.uk |
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