Integrated Approaches to Sustainable Development Practice
INAFU6043
Spring 2008; Tuesdays 9-10:50 AM
1401 IAB
3 Credits
Professor Jeffrey Sachs and John McArthur; TA: Lily Parshall
Office hours by appointment: sachs@columbia.edu (or call Heidi Kleetdke at 854-9482 to
arrange); jmcarthur@ei.columbia.edu
Prerequisites: None, although students must apply for admission, as registration for this course
will be limited. Interested students should send the following information to Lily,
llp15@columbia.edu: Name of degree program, graduation date, and 1 paragraph explaining
reason for interest in the course.
Spring Break: All registered students must be available to participate in an intensive local
investigation over Spring Break (March 17-21). The local investigation will take place in the
New York City area.
Course Overview
This course aims to provide students with a general introduction to the basic core competencies
and practical skills required of a “generalist” development practitioner. The course will be
offered at a number of universities around the world, and each week students will have the
opportunity to learn from an expert practitioner. (For a complete list of participating
universities, see Annex 2.) 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:
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Agriculture and Nutrition
Economics
Environment and Climate Science
Management
Policy, Anthropology and Social Studies
Public Health
Technology and Engineering
Both conceptual and practical management issues will be stressed throughout each course
topic. The course will incorporate state-of-the-art web-based technologies for sharing lectures
across countries, and to facilitate international discussion and collaboration among students at
participating universities. The Center for New Media Teaching and Learning (CNMTL) will
support the interactive, web-based components of the course including the development of
electronic learning resources and the lecture videos.
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Intended learning outcomes:
 To expose students to the core technical skills required to solve professional
problems within the field of sustainable development.
 To provide students the opportunity to demonstrate functional knowledge of the
core issues of sustainable development through the analysis and diagnosis of
real-world problems.
 To enable students to determine an appropriate course of action when faced with
a complex development challenge.
 To provide students with a heightened awareness of the cross-cultural, multidisciplinary, multinational dimensions of the field.
 To encourage students to identify, create, and reflect upon “integrated
approaches” and appropriate interventions that may lead to poverty alleviation
and sustainable development
Grading
Course grades will be based on:

A short personal essay describing a specific experience you have had while working in
development, and what you learned from it, or a response to key readings in the
development literature. 3-4 double-spaced pages. (10%)
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Investigation of local and global dimensions of poverty.
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Part I. Working with other Columbia classmates, students will complete a local
investigation that draws on participatory methodologies and culminates in the
preparation of a poverty reduction proposal for a specific place (~10 pages; for a
full description, see Annex 1). (35%)
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Part II. Students will select a country represented by a partner university and
prepare an assessment of that country’s climate risks and recommendations for
climate change adaptation (~8 pages; for a full description, see Annex 1). (35%)

As part of these assignments, Columbia students will collaborate with students at
other participating universities to evaluate one another’s proposals and policy
briefs.
Participation in local and web-based discussions. (20%)
In general, late assignments will be marked down by 10% for each week they are overdue.
Readings
All course readings will be available in electronic format through the course website.
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Course Calendar
Each week, an expert practitioner will deliver a one-hour lecture (or we will have multiple short
lectures). Practitioners will deliver lectures in person, via real-time web feed, or via pre-taped
video (see Annex 1 for a complete list of lecturers). Remaining class time will be divided
between discussions, local investigations, and practical case studies.
I. [Jan 22] Introduction and Overview, Jeffrey Sachs & John McArthur
The opening class will provide an overview of the course structure and an introduction to the
core concepts and competencies underlying sustainable development practice.
II. [Jan 29] Integrating Cross-disciplinary Approaches to Achieve the Millennium
Development Goals, John McArthur
This session will outline the history of the Millennium Development Goals (MDGs), their
relevance for development policy and practice, and the cross-disciplinary strategies needed to
achieve them. Students will be encouraged to consider multiple interventions to target poverty
reduction, and the challenges and opportunities associated with the management of coordinated
interventions.
Readings
UN Millennium Project 2005. Investing in Development: A Practical Plan to Achieve the
Millennium Development Goals. Overview.
http://www.unmillenniumproject.org/documents/overviewEngLowRes.pdf
III. [Feb 5 and 12] Public Health Challenges in the Developing World
This module will introduce key public health challenges – including HIV/AIDS, TB and malaria
– and their social and environmental dimensions. Specific case studies will be used to illustrate
on-the-ground challenges and how they can be overcome.
Lectures
The Intersection of Health and Development, Helene Gayle
Chronic Disease: The Role of Behavior and the Environment, Jeff Koplan
Infectious Disease Control: Case Studies from Uganda, Livingstone Luboobi
Basic Components of Health Care Delivery Systems, Jim Kim
Readings
Micek, M. 2005. Integrating TB and HIV Care in Mozambique: Lessons from an HIV
Clinic in Beira. Core Group and Health Alliance International: Seattle.
Sachs, J. and P. Malaney. 2002. The Economic and Social Burden of Malaria. Nature, 415 (7).
World Health Organization 2001. Macroeconomics and health: Investing in health for economic
development. Report of the Commission on Macroeconomics and Health. Retrieved
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from the following website:
http://www.earth.columbia.edu/sitefiles/File/about/director/pubs/CMHExecSumm11260
3.pdf
IV. [Feb 19 and 26] Agriculture and Nutrition
This module will focus on links between food, agriculture, and development.
Lectures
Nutrition, Lawrence Haddad
The Integration of Food Production and Nutrition, Alice Pell
Agriculture and Development, Freddie Kwesiga
Readings
Frison, E. A., J. Cherfas, P.B. Eyzauirre, T. Johns. 2004. Biodiversity, nutrition and health:
making a difference to hunger and conservation in the developing world. Keynote
Address to the Seventh Meeting of the Conference of the Parties to the Convention on
Biological Diversity (COP 7)
UN Millennium Project 2005. Halving Hunger: It Can Be Done. Task Force on Hunger.
http://www.unmillenniumproject.org/documents/Hunger-lowres-complete.pdf
World Bank 2008. World Development Report 2008: Agriculture for Development.
http://siteresources.worldbank.org/INTWDR2008/Resources/WDR_00_book.pdf
PERSONAL ESSAY DUE ON MARCH 3.
V. [Mar 4] Technology and Engineering, Lee Yee Cheong
This lecture will cover the role of technology and engineering in development, and discuss the
range of policies that can be used to improve science and engineering capacity in developing
countries.
Readings
UN Millennium Project 2005. Innovation: Applying Knowledge in Development. Science,
Technology and Innovation Task Force Report.
UN Millennium Project 2005. Energy Services for the Millennium Development Goals.
http://www.unmillenniumproject.org/documents/MP_Energy_Low_Res.pdf
WEHAB Working Group 2002. A Framework for Action on Water and Sanitation. World
Summit on Sustainable Development. Johannesburg 2002.
http://www.un.org/jsummit/html/documents/summit_docs/wehab_papers/wehab_water_
sanitation.pdf.
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VI. [Mar 11] Community Participation and Participatory Learning, Peter Taylor
This session will examine how emerging concepts and practices of participation in community
development processes are shaping, and being shaped by, concerns over a need for more
transformative and participatory learning processes. The session will draw on cases that
demonstrate the potential of such a shift for individuals, organizations, and society more widely.
Participants will also be expected to reflect on their own personal experience of learning
processes in order to link to theory, and to draw out implications for further practice. This
session will prepare students for an intensive local investigation to be carried out over Spring
Break.
Readings
Cornwall, A, & K. Brock. 2005. What do buzzwords do for development policy? a critical look
at ‘participation’, ‘empowerment’ and ‘poverty reduction’ Third World Quarterly 26, 7 :
1043 – 1060.
Heron, J., & Reason, P. 2001. The practice of co-operative inquiry: Research with rather than on
people. In P. Reason, & H. Bradbury (Eds.), Handbook of action research: Participative
inquiry and practice. London: Sage. 179–188.
Mikkelsen, B. 2005. Methods for Development Work and Research: A New Guide for
Practitioners, London: Sage, Chapter 3 “Participatory Methods in Use”
Taylor, P., Pettit, J., & Stackpool-Moore, L. 2006. Learning and teaching for transformation:
Insights from a collaborative learning initiative. In P. Guerstein, & N. Angeles (Eds.),
Learning civil societies: Shifting contexts for democratic planning and governance.
Toronto: Toronto University Press. 179–188.
March 17 – March 21: LOCAL INVESTIGATION IN NYC AREA.
LOCAL INVESTIGATION DUE ON MARCH 31.
VII. [Mar 25 and April 1] Environmental and Climate Science
This module will explore the global and local dimensions of environmental policies for
sustainable development. Lectures will provide a basic introduction to the international climate
regime, economics and politics of climate change, international negotiations and the Kyoto
protocol, and European policies to address climate change; as well as an overview of challenges
associated with addressing climate change – and other environmental issues – in developing
countries. The module will include a case study from Brazil.
Lectures
Climate Change, RK Pachauri
Climate Change and Global Governance, Laurence Tubiana
Sustainable Development in Practice: lessons from Amazonas, Brazil, Virgilo Viana
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Readings
Hellmuth, M.E., Moorhead, A., Thomson, M.C., and Williams, J. (eds) 2007. Climate Risk
Management in Africa: Learning from Practice. International Research Institute for
Climate and Society (IRI), Columbia University, New York, USA.
IPCC, 2007: Summary for Policymakers of the Synthesis Report of the IPCC Fourth
Assessment Report.
Laurence, W.F. et al. “The Future of the Brazilian Amazon,” Science, Vol. 291 (5503), 438439. 19 January 2001.
Nepstad, D. et al. “Issues in Amazonian Development,” Science, Vol. 295, 1643-1644, 1 March
2002.
Stern, N. 2007. The Economics of Climate Change. Summary of Conclusions.
VIII. [Apr 8 and 15] Economics and Policy Coherence
This module will examine the interrelationship of economics, trade, policy and development.
The first lecture will outline macroeconomic strategies for poverty alleviation, highlighting the
role of policy in development through a case study of China. The second lecture will examine
the interplay between national and international policies on issues such as migration, trade, and
development. It will provide a basic introduction to the impacts of migration and trade policies
on economic development and will explore examples of how these policies can be mutually
reinforcing or counter-productive. The session will draw on one or more cases that demonstrate
the potential for improved policy coherence, and will explore mechanisms for facilitating such
coherence. Emerging regimes for global coordination and cooperation in these areas will also
be examined. Participants will be asked to consider examples from their own countries of the
interaction between policies in migration, trade, and development, and how coordination is or is
not being achieved.
Lectures
Poverty Alleviation and Economic Growth in China, Xiao Geng
Policy Coherence: Migration, Trade, and Development, Milena Novy-Marx
Readings
“Commonwealth Code of Practice for International Recruitment of Health Workers” (2003)
Dahlston, Sarah (2004) “Key Policy Coherence Issues in Agriculture and Migration” OECD.
Johnson, Jeff Dayton and Louka Katseli (2006) “Migration, Aid and Trade: Policy coherence
for development” OECD Development Centre Policy Brief No 28.
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Global Forum on Migration and Development Background Paper for Roundtable Session 3.2,
“Coherent Policy Planning and Methodology to Link Migration and Development,”
(2007).
Wing, T.W. and X. Geng. 2007. Facing Protectionism Generated by Trade Disputes: China’s
Post-WTO Blues. In Garnaut, R. and L. Song (eds.) China: Linking Markets for Growth.
Wise, Raul Delgado and Stephen Castles (2007) “Principles and Measures to Obtain More
Coherent and Collaborative Policy Making on Migration and Development”
Martin, Phil. “NAFTA and US-Mexico Migration” (2006), UC Davis.
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IX. [April 22] Managing Humanitarian Assistance: Practical and Ethical Considerations
The first lecture will cover organization management for development. The second lecture will
analyze the ethical issues involving global poverty and the way in which practitioners think
about issues of aid and intervention. The session will examine what role ethical considerations
do and should play in international development policy and aid delivery, the most effective and
appropriate vehicles for that delivery, and the ethical implications of intervention.
Lectures
Organizational Management for Development, Ann Veneman
Ethics and Global Development, John DeGoia
Readings
Lomborg, B. ed., How to Spend $50 billion to Make the World a Better Place, Cambridge
University Press, 2006.
Sachs, J. The End of Poverty, Chapters 1-4, 14-18.
Scott, J. Seeing like a State: how certain schemes to improve the human condition have failed.
Yale University Press, 1998. Chapter 9
Singer, P. Practical Ethics, 2nd ed., "Rich and Poor" (ch. 8), (New York: Cambridge UP, 1993)
pp. 218-46.
X. [April 29] Conclusion, Jeffrey Sachs & John McArthur
The final lecture will provide a synthesis of the concepts presented throughout the course
modules.
GLOBAL INVESTIGATION DUE ON MAY 5.
*Academic Integrity Statement*
The School of International & Public Affairs does not tolerate cheating and/or plagiarism in any form.
Those students who violate the Code of Academic & Professional Conduct will be subject to the Dean’s
Disciplinary Procedures. Click here to view the Code of Academic & Professional Conduct online.
http://sipa.columbia.edu/resources_services/student_affairs/academic_policies/deans_discipline_p olicy.html
Please familiarize yourself with the proper methods of citation and attribution. The School provides some
useful resources online; we strongly encourage you to familiarize yourself with these various styles before
conducting your research:
http://sipa.columbia.edu/resources_services/student_affairs/academic_policies/code_of_conduct.h tml
Violations of the Code of Academic & Professional Conduct should be reported to the Associate Dean for
Student Affairs.
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Annex 1. Course Assignments
Introductory Essay
Students will contribute short essays either describing a specific experience they have had while
working in development, and what they learned from it, or responding to key readings in the
development literature. Essays will be 3-4 pages (double-spaced), and students will be asked to
post them within the first month of the course. Submissions will be organized and inter-linked
into a Wiki for the Global Classroom.
Human Poverty Report: Local and Global Investigations
Working in small groups, students will complete a local investigation culminating in a poverty
reduction proposal for a specific place, as well as a global investigation culminating in policy
recommendations for national or sub-national climate change adaptation. Students will also
evaluate proposals and recommendations submitted by their peers at partner universities.
Part I. Local Investigation and Poverty Reduction Proposal
For the local investigation, each team will focus on a particular sector – e.g. agriculture, energy,
health, infrastructure, nutrition, water – and its relationship to development and poverty within
their local environment, or a nearby site. Drawing upon participatory methodologies, the teams
will work with the local population to identify key issues relevant to the sector and analyze
appropriate interventions that may improve local conditions. Teams will conduct field visits,
interviews, and collect data as part of their investigation. In some cases, field research may be
supplemented with review of reports, articles, data, and maps available on-line. In coordination
with the local counterparts, teams will develop a proposal for a new poverty reduction project.
The proposal will include a description of local conditions and ongoing development work in
the region; identification of challenges, strengths and opportunities for change (e.g.
environmental factors, local governance, policies, etc.); and a detailed description of the
proposed project (including objectives, expected time-line, etc.). Teams are also encouraged to
identify local sources of funding or sustainable income that may support project
implementation. Project proposals (~5-6 pages including background information) will be
linked to an interactive global map, and students will review a proposal from a partner
university, and submit comments.
Part II. Global Investigation and Climate Change Adaptation Policy Recommendations
For the global investigation, teams will first select a country (or sub-national area) represented
by a partner university. In small working groups focused on particular sectors (e.g. agriculture,
energy, health, infrastructure, nutrition, water), the class will prepare an assessment of climate
risks and recommendations for climate change adaptation. Students will be expected to refer to
reports and articles, data available through websites (e.g. WDI), and/or maps. Their report will
be in the form of a memo to the government on how to organize itself for climate change
adaptation. Students will again review a partner group’s memo.
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Annex 2. Confirmed Partners- Global Classroom
Country
University
CHINA
Tsinghua
University
ETHIOPIA
Primary Contact/ Course Facilitator
IT Specialist
Name
Email
gxiao@brookings.edu
Name
Xiao Geng
Tel
+8610-6279 7363
Mr. Tie Li
Tel
+86-13717672245
Email
brookings@tsinghua.edu.cn
Mekelle
University
Mitiku Haile
+251 344 409228
gualmitiku@yahoo.com
Gebremariam
Mesfin
+251 914
707483
gr2001et@yahoo.com
FRANCE
Sciences-Po
Marie
MERCATBRUNS
33 (1) 53 70 22
67
marie.mercatbruns@sciencespo.fr
(same as contact)
GHANA
GIMPA
Yaw Badu
ybadu2003@yahoo.com
Ms. Akua Gyasi
INDIA
TERI
University
Arabinda Mishra
(TBD)
amishra@teri.res.in
Sangeeta Gupta
Malaysia
University of
Malaya
Sulo Nair
sulonair@yahoo.com
Mohamad Safwan
Bin Jusof
NIGERIA
University of
Ibadan
Dr. Abel
Olorunnisola
+234 (0)
8034724945
abelolorunnisola@yahoo.com
(same contact)
SINGAPORE
Lee Kuan
Yew School
Dr. Alex Mutebi
+65 6516 4845
sppmmad@nus.edu.sg
Mr. Augustine Tan
UGANDA
Makerere
University
Dr. Joseph Y.T.
Mugisha
+256772415999
jytmugisha@math.mak.ac.ug
(same contact)
UK
IDS- Sussex
Peter Taylor
44 (0)1273 678691
p.taylor@ids.ac.uk
David Beaven
US
Columbia
Lily Parchall
llp15@columbia.edu
CCNMTL (Frank
Moretti, Ryan Kelsey,
Rob Garfield, Jennifer
Spiegler)
US
Georgetown
University
Jack DeGioia
(202) 687-2304
president@georgetown.edu
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Randy Bass
akuagyasi@hotmail.com
+91-112468
2100
sangeeta@teri.res.in
safwan@um.edu.my
spptjka@nus.edu.sg
44
(0)1273
877233
D.Beaven@ids.ac.uk
fmoretti@columbia.edu;
ryan@columbia.edu;
rgarfield@ccnmtl.columbia.edu;
jes2171@columbia.edu
bassr@georgetown.edu
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