Timetable:

Credits:

4

Instructors:

Elective (second year)

1. HELP FOR PROJECTS: GENERAL VIEW

Situation and perspectives of this mode of intervention, within international co-operation as a whole.
1.1. Diversity and heterogeneity of development projects.
Examples of projects. Demonstration of their diversity (by size, agents, sectors, content, objectives, etc.)
1.2. Importance of this modality within the whole of co-operation for development.
1.3. Common characteristics and defining traits of co-operation for development projects.
1.4. Reasons explaining the preferential use of the project as an instrument of co-operation, compared with other possible modalities.

2. THE EVOLUTION OF INSTRUMENTS OF CO-OPERATION

2.1. General reflections on the different possible approaches to co-operation and solidarity and on the corresponding instruments.
2.2. Nature and characteristics of the instruments of co-operation used at each stage of international economic relations, from the end of colonialism until the present day.
The instruments of co-operation in the framework of North/South relations: the use of the project, programme and planning depending on historical contexts.

3. THE INSTRUMENTS (PROJECT AND PROGRAMME) AS REFLECTIONS OF THE INTERNATIONAL CO-OPERATION SYSTEM

3.1. Situation of co-operation and its instruments (programme and project) in the framework of current neo-liberal policies.
3.2. Meaning of the project and programme according to the framework of economic policy and the institutional system into which they are inserted.
3.3. Current trends in Spain and the world. Toward a reduction in the role of the project?
3.4. Conclusions on the possible “frameworks of coherence” into which co-operation for development interventions can be inserted.

4. THE CO-OPERATION PROJECT CYCLE

4.1. The different facets of the “co-operation for development project":
- The project as a vector of transformations (productive, social, cultural, etc.).
- The project as a programming instrument for a series of technical activities.
- The project as a legal instrument (contract between financial backers, executors and "beneficiaries")
- The project as an autonomous institution for managing funds and executing actions.

4.2. Stages in the life of a project:
The project “cycle”: description and articulation of the different stages and phases the project passes through.

4.3. The agents that intervene in the project cycle: summarised presentation
- Types of agents (multilateral, bilateral, non-governmental)
- Functions: financing (donations/loans), mediation, execution, technical support, control, etc.
- Participation and representation of the local world: leaders, local communities, associations, social movements.
- Relations between agents of the North and the South: common interests and conflicts.
– The DNGOs and the subject of civil society.

4.4. The reality of the life of the project, according to types of agents: differences and similarities between official co-operation and non-governmental co-operation projects.

5. THE IDENTIFICATION OF PROJECTS

5.1. How it is done in practice:
- The transformation of local needs into co-operation projects.
- The agents that intervene, according to type of project.
- The determining role of intermediaries and co-operation agencies.
- The participation of the people: "beneficiaries" or actors?
5.2. Reflection on the concept of participation which situates it at the centre of official and non-governmental discourse.
5.3. Methods of “participative” identification. Description and critique of the ZOPP method. Planning workshop. Construction of the problems tree and the objectives tree.
5.4. Criteria to bear in mind in the identification and designing of projects.

6. THE DESIGNING AND FORMULATION OF PROJECTS

6.1. How it is done in practice:
- The agents that intervene, according to the type of project.
- Local participation in the technical formulation of projects.
- Adaptation of the project to financing requirements.
6.2. The project document:
- Content and structure. Examples of project formulas.
6.3. Formulation methods.
The logic framework method (European Union) as an instrument of technical aid in the formulation phase.
6.4. Application of the logic framework approach to a development project: the matrix of the logic framework as a material result of the formulation

7. THE JUDGING AND SELECTION OF PROJECTS BY FINANCING ORGANISMS (synthetic view)

7.1 How it is done in practice:
- The agents that intervene, according to the type of project.
- The criteria of the different agents.
- The differences between production projects and social projects.
7.2 The methods of “evaluation” and selection of production projects by financing organisms (summarised presentation).
- The reference price method.
- The effects method.
- The cost/benefit method.
7.3. The methods of selection of projects by administrations:
- Calls for projects.
- Priority criteria expressed in the competition rules.
- Technical evaluation of projects.
- The use of multi-criteria tables.

8. THE MANAGEMENT, MONITORING AND EXECUTION OF PROJECTS

8.1 How it is done in practice:
- The agents responsible for the management and monitoring of projects.
- Project management and the relationship with local institutions (isolation or articulation?).
- Relationship between local and external means.

8.2. Instruments for management and monitoring.
- Administrative and accounting monitoring.
- Monitoring system.

9. PROJECT EVALUATION

9.1. How it is done in practice:
- The agents that intervene, according to the type of project.
- Types and criteria of evaluation of projects.
9.2. Application: presentation and discussion of the methodology of evaluation of Spanish co-operation.
9.3 The economic, social and cultural sustainability of co-operation projects.
9.4 The impact of projects on local reality (on the economic, social and political levels).

10. FINAL REFLECTIONS: TOWARD OTHER FORMS OF CO-OPERATION?

Assessment of the analysis of projects and programmes as instruments of co-operation for development.
Where can they evolve to? The aspects that can be improved within the same framework of action and the limits intrinsic to these instruments.
Toward other technical instruments?
Toward another conception of what co-operation is?
Toward other expressions of solidarity?

PROJECT WORKSHOP

The project workshop is a series of practical exercises that are carried out during the module and that allow students to apply the concepts developed.
It is based on one or several real examples of non-governmental co-operation projects executed by an NGO or one or several examples of decentralised co-operation projects promoted by a local entity.
Based on these specific cases, work is done in groups in which the students can directly experience the use of the methodologies of identification, formulation and evaluation of projects and, in particular, the logic framework approach.
This serves so that students can become familiar with the techniques described (instrumental aspect) and be able, at the same time, to develop a capacity for critical analysis of project documents.
In addition to the exercises carried out during the module, students must bear in mind that the method for evaluating the module is based on group work – with the technical support that is offered through three tutorial sessions – which also permits them to work on a practical project case, if the group so desires.
The intention is that the results of the work can be presented to the NGOs or local entities that have made the case study possible.