WG Co-operation in Development and Area Studies Training - Report 2003

Annual Report of the Working Group for Co-operation in Development and Area Studies Training (WGCT), 2002-2003

A. SUBJECT MATTER OF WORKING GROUP

Although in our application for recognition of the Working Group back in the autumn 2001, we stressed the distinction between the work of the Working Group and that of the Sub-Committee on Training, this present report underlines the fact that the Sub-Committee has actually functioned as a kind of core Working Group on Training over the past year.

Two years ago, we had underlined, in our application for WG recognition, that the role of the Working Group for Co-operation in Training was different from that of the majority of other EADI Working Groups. The latter were typically concerned with scientific research co-operation, and thus their outputs are specialist expert meetings, working papers and research publications. By contrast the work of the WGCT was concerned with a function that was shared by many EADI institutes - that of providing training in development or area studies.

It was also necessary to distinguish the role of the Working Group for Co-operation in Training from that of the Sub-Committee on Education & Training. Although there was a degree of overlap, the purpose of the Working Group was particularly to do with the changing content and theory of Development and Area Studies (DAS) training. As illustrated in the 1998 EADI Paris Conference sessions and again in the Ljubliana sessions, it has had concerns about the identity, legitimacy and interdisciplinary nature of DAS training. There are also concerns in the WGCT about the relationships between DAS training in the European region, and training in the very regions which are the subject of scientific study by most of the other EADI Working Groups.

The Sub-Committee on Education and Training, on the other hand, is responsible for thinking about EADI-wide training policy issues. This EADI niche in training has been preoccupied over the past year with making progress on two fronts: the development of an EADI Summer School on some dimensions of European development cooperation; and the development of a European Masters in European Development Cooperation. These two elements were seen to be connected in terms of substantial content, and the relationship between them was one of the issues discussed at the General Conference in September 2002.

B. OUTPUTS OF THE SUB-COMMITTEE/WGCT

The planned outputs of the SubCommittee/WGCT which had been indicated back in the autumn of 2001 included:

The development of a European Masters in European Development Co-operation.
The continued development of the Data Base on the comparative advantage of centres in DAS.
Student and Staff mobility within the ISS-IUED-CAS pilot project on closer co-operation in training amongst a trio of EADI institutes.

Evaluation of 2001 plans:

There was certainly progress on the first of these three elements, though this was relatively slow until the spring of 2003, since the money was not allocated by the European Commission to the activity until the summer of 2002.But thereafter there were meetings on the European Masters held in Edinburgh, Lisbon, Helsinki and Pavia over the course of 2003.

In respect of the Data Base of training institutions, it was maintained, but not aggressively added to.

And in respect of the ISS-IUED-CAS pilot, there was continued active exchange between IUED and CAS, but little further active collaboration with the ISS.

One reason for the lack of activity in the latter two elements was that the Sub-Committee/WGCT took on [at the Barcelona Meeting of the Executive in spring 2002] the idea of developing an EADI Summer School - which was designed to be a visible and concrete illustration of the Sub-Committee/WGCT's actions and priorities. It was assumed that the European Masters might well take some more time to put into place. Meanwhile it would be valuable to implement the Summer School concept.

C. TYPES OF ACTIVITIES PLANNED

As already mentioned, there had been a series of meetings relating to the European Masters held over the year 2003.
But, starting with the Maastricht meeting of the Executive in the autumn 2002, there was also a series of meetings on developing the Summer School concept. Several of these took advantage of the Executive Committee meetings, and from Maastricht there was adopted a year-long schedule of meetings at which the Summer School and/or the European Masters would be discussed and developed. In all cases, these scheduled meetings involved setting aside either a full day of meetings just prior to or after an Executive Committee, or they involved agreeing on a self-standing meeting, for example in Edinburgh in February 2003 or in Helsinki in June 2003. The plans made at Maastricht to meet on the following occasions were thus all fulfilled: Edinburgh, February 2003, Lisbon, May, 2003, Helsinki, June, 2003, and Belgrade November 2003. In addition key members associated with the Summer School or the European Masters met in Geneva in August, 2003 and in September in Pavia respectively. Thus there were in total some 7 meetings, if we include Maastricht, where members of one or other of these two training activities made it their business to meet for additional time.
*The Sub-Committee on Education and Training has put on their agenda for Belgrade to revisit the differential contributions of the two activities - the Sub-Committee and the WG.
*It has also indicated an interest in considering whether it should be the Sub-Committee on Education and Training that should be asked to look at the whole vexed question of validation and accreditation of Development and Area Studies.

D. CONTRIBUTION TO THE GENERAL CONFERENCE

It had been intended, as a contribution to the Conference theme of Eastern enlargement of the EU, to encourage a better understanding of the character and tradition of Development and Area Studies in Eastern Europe. To this end, a series of discussion topics were elaborated. The focus of the WG sessions in Ljubliana was both with the particularity of DAS training in the former Eastern Europe and their character now. But the sessions were also organised around the planning of the Summer School and the European Masters.

E. POSSIBLE COOPERATION WITH OTHER EADI WORKING GROUPS

There was planned collaboration with the WG on Development Co-operation especially in respect of the content of the proposed European Masters in European Development Co-operation. Indeed, one of the convenors of Development Cooperation WG has joined the core team of the Euromasters' project. In addition, one of the convenors of the WG on Gender, Joy Clancy, has been a core contributor to the developmental work and detailed planning of the EADI Summer School project. In fact, the two convenors of the Gender WG will host the next Summer School in Holland. In addition the WG/Sub-Committee expect to work with the EDC 2010 since the focus of the Summer Schools and of the European Masters is on European Development Cooperation.

F. EXPECTED DATE OF COMPLETION OF ACTIVITIES

It is expected that the development phase of the European Masters will be completed in the academic year, 2003-4. There will be a further stand-alone meeting on the project in Dublin in February.2004.

The Summer School Series is now underway. The Second Summer School will be discussed in Belgrade; and the location of the third will also be deliberated.

G. NAMES OF TWO CONVENORS

Professor Carton and Professor King remain the convenors of the Sub-Committee and the Working Group.

H. THE NAMES OF AT LEAST FIVE OTHER MEMBERS

There has been a core membership of the Sub-Committee for Education and Training which has been responsible for the principal action on the work of the last year. The fact that almost all of these have been Executive Committee Members, or Convenors of Working Groups has been very important in reducing the costs. It should also be mentioned that no less than six of these Sub-Committee members were able to come to play a key role in the first EADI Summer School when it took place at the end of September 2003.

Juhani Koponen,and Lauri Siitonen, Institute of Development Studies, University of Helsinki Majda Bne Saad, Centre for Development Studies, University College, Dublin Joana Leite, Centre for African and Development Studies, Technical University of Lisbon Gianni Vaggi, Centre for Co-operation with Developing Countries (CICOPS) - Pavia Paul Hoebink, Centre for International Development Issues Nijmegen, University of Nijmegen Leo de Haan, Centre for International Development Issues Nijmegen, University of Nijmegen Gianni Vaggi, CICOPS - Centre for the Cooperation with Developing Countries Andy Mold, University of Computense, Madrid. Italian Institute for Foreign Trade -Training Department, Rome Joy Clancy, Technology and Development Sciences, University of Twente Irna van der Molen, Technology and Development Sciences, University of Twente Desmond McNeill and Bente Herstad, University of Oslo Kenneth King, Centre for African Studies, University of Edinburgh Michel Carton, Institut Universitaire d'études du développement, Geneva Jaroslava Kaderabkova, Prague School of Economics, Prague Jan Krouzek Development Centre of the Institute of International Affairs, Prague Kenneth King, CAS, Co-convenor Michel Carton, IUED Co-convenor