This course examines the planning and management of projects in international development. It introduces students to the key concepts, approaches, and tools used across the development project cycle.

At the same time, the course takes a critical perspective on development project planning and management. Rather than treating project management as a purely technical process, students are encouraged to examine the assumptions, interests, and power relations that shape how development problems are defined, which interventions are selected, how projects are implemented, and how their success is measured. Particular attention is paid to the roles and interactions of different stakeholders - including governments, development agencies, civil society organisations, market actors, and intended beneficiaries - and to how development projects affect, and are shaped by, the people and communities they seek to serve.

By combining the theory and practice of development project management, the course aims to equip students with a clear understanding of dominant paradigms and approaches to project planning and management while developing their ability to critically assess their relevance and limitations in different development contexts.

Students will learn to access and evaluate relevant information, apply project planning and management tools to real-world development challenges, and critically reflect on how development projects can be designed and managed in ways that are effective, adaptive, participatory, and responsive to context.