Development Project Management & Design (DEVT90001)

An introduction to project management and design from interdisciplinary and critical perspectives. We begin by understanding the standard project cycle approach to project management. We focus on strategy, vision and mission formulation, as well as problem identification and analysis, objectives analysis, stakeholder analysis, formulation of projects and budgets, implementation, and monitoring and evaluation. Students will be familiarised with programme management tools of Logical Framework Analysis and Program Logic and Theories of Change which will be contrasted with alternative, participatory and ‘learning process’/social enterprise approaches. We will examine how different functions require different forms of program design and planning. The sensitivity of programs to gender inequalities and the concerns of disadvantaged groups and the ethics and motivations of field workers will be explored. Students will also be introduced to recent critiques of, and debates on, program management and development practice. Case studies of projects in developing countries and practical exercises will be integral to the syllabus.