This course presents the orgins and evolution of the International Development Cooperation during the last six decades und relates the changing paradigms to their political and socio-economic contexts. It looks at the different actors with their spefic roles, approaches and challenges from a Swiss as well as a global perspective.

The purpose of this course is, to get insights in the relevance of and the dealing with ecological aspects in developing countries; to enhance the understanding of the forces, which influence ecological measures; to learn about instruments, process management, research operations and to become familiar with various approaches to analyze and influence politics.

The course acquaints the participants with the current thinking and practise in the field of livelihood approaches to development. Such approaches intend to be people centred and holistic. The course enables development practitioners and researchers to integrate a livelihood orientation into their professional work.