About
Krijn Peters is a rural development sociologist specialised in post-war reconstruction, international development, transport services and technology.
Krijn Peters is a rural development sociologist specialised in post-war reconstruction, international development, transport services and technology.
The module is where this program ultimately culminates with the final development stages and realisation of a team based project (as defined at the recruitment stage) with individual aspects considered and assessed as a final dissertation submission. The nature of the dissertation will be dependent on the nature of the specialisation of the participant. During the period of this module, a preparatory period will be followed by participants spending (or utilising remote engineering techniques) a period of circa. 3 weeks in-country delivering the project, with support from academic team leads and other supporting staff, stakeholders or collaborators. This will be concluded with a debrief and final dissertation writing period.
The module is where this program culminates with the final development stages and realisation of a team based project with individual aspects considered and assessed as a final dissertation submission. The nature of the dissertation will be dependent on the nature of the specialisation of the participant. During this module, a preparatory period will be followed by participants spending (or utilising remote engineering techniques) a period of circa. 3 weeks in-country delivering the project, with support from academic team leads and other supporting staff, stakeholders or collaborators. This will be concluded with a debrief and final dissertation writing period, a group presentation and an individual viva voce.
Researching Politics 2 (RP2) is the follow-on module from RP1 and it acts as the culmination for the subject knowledge and transferable skills developed in that module. RP2 puts the creative emphasis in the hands of the students, with the module convenor and topic tutors giving guidance and feedback to facilitate the realisation of research conceived, developed, executed and presented by students. In this way, it tries to approximate the worlds of further study and work into which students will be progressing following the completion of their degree schemes. It is a module where all of the summative assessments are comprised of group work, although individual marks can be varied depending on each student¿s performance. Students are also required to submit an individual self-assessment, detailing what they have learned about their own strengths and weaknesses on the basis of the sustained group work. In RP2, you will extend and deepen the research undertaken in RP1 and continue to meet regularly in order to share ideas, opinions and sources in your groups. These meetings will include several where the topic tutor provides guidance and feedback as well as those where the meetings are student-led.
Individual research based, under the guidance of appointed supervisor.
Rights-based approaches to development (RBAD) are now part of a new orthodoxy with respect to policy and practice in support of international development. They have become popular in part because they provide a language for analysing poverty as a complex and multi-dimensional phenomena and for analysing governance as a process that responds directly to people¿s needs, entitlements and rights. They direct attention to aspects of poverty which have traditionally been neglected in development policy at national and international levels. This module examines the background to rights-based approaches to development. Particular attention will is paid to the four separate arenas in which RBADs are now evident: development practice, development discourse; the policy commitments of donors and governments; and the obligations imposed on donors and governments by international human rights law. The module examines the implications of rights-based approaches for development policy and practice in the context of two contradictory phenomena: a system of international relations based on the principle of state sovereignty and the complex phenomenon of `globalis ation¿. Issues that arise in relation to the rights of indigenous peoples and children will be used as ways of examining the situation of vulnerable groups.
Violence and conflict have been enduring and widespread obstacles to the promotion of sustainable development throughout the latter half of the twentieth century, and the 21st century looks set to continue this pattern. This module examines the roots and causes of conflict and violence in developing nations and explores how and why such conflict emerge even between hitherto seemingly peacefully co-existing communities. The module asks what impact protracted and violent conflict can have upon development prospects and democratisation processes, and examines national and international responses to violence and conflict mediation processes and systems. The module also explores soome of the arguments surrounding the use of aid in conflict situations, and examines the extent to which development aid and emergency relief can assist in perpetuating a state of conflict.
We are increasingly moving towards a globalised world. Nevertheless, there are still huge socio-economic and political differences between countries and within countries. A key question for many nations in the Global South is how to achieve inclusive and sustained socio-economic development and reduce poverty. Engineering solutions have and still are considered as essential in achieving this: building roads and bridges or providing water-pumps or electricity are seen as important ways to alleviate a nation and its people out of poverty. But at the same time it is recognized that just providing these solutions is not sufficient: education and training are equally important for development, as is for instance ensuring gender equality. The scholarly discipline of Development Studies has studied this important question of how to develop countries for the last 70 years or so. Over these decades many different models and approaches have been tried, by national governments but also by supra-national bodies such as the World Bank or the IMF as well as by Non-Governmental Organisations and Civil Society groups, such as Oxfam or Action-Aid. In this module an overview of Development as a planned intervention is provided, and the different development models and approaches are critically assessed. We also look ahead to the Sustainable Development Goals, which have replaced the Millennium Development Goals as the global agenda for development.
We are increasingly moving towards a globalised world. Nevertheless, there are still huge socio-economic and political differences between countries and within countries. A key question for many nations in the Global South is how to achieve inclusive and sustained socio-economic development and reduce poverty. Engineering solutions have and still are considered as essential in achieving this: building roads and bridges or providing water-pumps or electricity are seen as important ways to alleviate a nation and its people out of poverty. But at the same time it is recognized that just providing these solutions is not sufficient: education and training are equally important for development, as is for instance ensuring gender equality. The scholarly discipline of Development Studies has studied this important question of how to develop countries for the last 70 years or so. Over these decades many different models and approaches have been tried, by national governments but also by supra-national bodies such as the World Bank or the IMF as well as by Non-Governmental Organisations and Civil Society groups, such as Oxfam or Action-Aid. In this module an overview of Development as a planned intervention is provided, and the different development models and approaches are critically assessed. We also look ahead to the Sustainable Development Goals, which have replaced the Millennium Development Goals as the global agenda for development.
Engineering solutions are developed for what is often a highly complex socio-economic and political environment. For engineering solutions to be implemented in the Global South, unfamiliarity with the local culture and practices further adds to this complexity. Many sound solutions and interventions from an engineering perspective have failed to deliver the outcomes, or delivered unintended and non-preferred outcomes, because the engineers were not aware of this context (or choose to ignore it). This module will provide an introduction to the most common pitfalls and how these can be overcome. It then allows the students to get a hands-on experience with the complexity of the context in which their engineering solutions do take place, via an especially designed simulation exercise, making them aware of cultural barriers, conflicting political interests and policies and non-collaborative donor and state institutions.
Engineering solutions are designed to make an impact in the real world, and for many engineering solutions for the developing world this impact is ultimately poverty reduction and enhancing the quality of people's lives. But how and when do we measure the anticipated impact of an intervention. When do we know if something really has worked and made a difference? And will thinking about the impact - and how to measure this - help us to better understand the present or pre-intervention state - the base-line condition. And equally important, once the intervention is under way, how can we ensure that all actors work according to plan and that both contingencies and unexpected developments are detected and dealt with rather than derailing the process. A rigorous and scientific approach to monitoring and evaluation is key to achieve the gold standard in development interventions.
This module is a practical skills-orientated course aimed at enhancing the planning and management capabilities of those already working in development or wishing to become development professionals. An important focus is on skills acquisition, and there is a strong emphasis on student-led learning, planning exercises, individual and group presentations, and case-study work. It is the only module open for non-engineers in the Semester 2 streams. It builds on some of skills acquired in Semester 2 module 'Monitoring & Impact Evaluation" but also introduces a whole set of new tools for international development, aimed to increase the success rate and impact of any development intervention, whether of an engineering nature or social or economic one.
2 hour weekly Study Group for MA International Security and Development students.
2013 - Present
2012 - Present
2010 - 2013
2010 - 2011
2005 - 2010
2001 - 2005
2000 - 2001