Le lezioni saranno in lingua italiana. Alcuni materiali didattici saranno in inglese. The lessons will be held in Italian. Some teaching materials will be in English.
Course Content
The course provides the opportunity to know the operational tools for planning and managing international cooperation projects, focusing on EU methodologies.
The course is organised in 2 modules: one introduces the key concepts of the project cycle management; the other one is focused on the legal framework of the EU External Action and the tools for the economic and financial analysis.
Workshops and seminars will be held on topics of current interest of the international cooperation.
First Module:
- European Union, Aid Delivery Methods – Project Cycle Management Guidelines, – March 2004 - pagg. 1-94 – 100-117 - https://ec.europa.eu/europeaid/sites/devco/files/methodology-aid-delivery-methods-project-cycle-management-200403_en_2.pdf
- Cespi, Manuale di formazione – Le nuove opportunità della cooperazione decentrata, Novembre 2005, pagg. 408 – 453 - http://piazzadellacooperazione.oics.it/manuale.pdf
- Concord, Annex I. Guidance Note On Using Devco’s Revised Logical Framework (Prag 2015) - http://concordeurope.org/wp-content/uploads/2016/09/CONCORD_Guidelines_DEVCO_ApplicationForms_2016_logframe.pdf?d4ee7f
Second Module:
- Price Gittinger, J., 1984. Economic Analysis of Agricultural Projects. Economic Development Institute. The Johns Hopkins University Press for the World Bank. Baltimore.
- Campbell, H.F., e Brown, R.P.C., 2003. Benefit-Cost Analysis: Financial and Economic Appraisal using Spreadsheets. Cambridge University Press. New York.
- de Janvry, A., e Sadoulet, E., 2016. Development Economics. Theory and Practice. Routledge. London. Capp. 15-16. (*)
- Irvin, G., 1978. Modern Cost-Benefit Methods. An Introduction to Financial, Economic and Social Appraisal of Development Projects. McMillan. London Cap. 1.
- Mishan, E.J., e Quah, E, 2007. Cost–Benefit Analysis, 5th edition. Routledge. London. Part 4th.
- Nuti, F., 2001. La valutazione economica delle decisioni pubbliche. Giappichelli. Torino. Capp. 4 e 5. (*)
Before and during the lessons of both modules, Power Point presentations and exercise materials will be shared with students. Some of these will be in English.
Learning Objectives
The course aims to introduce the students into the basic elements and the different phases/features of international cooperation projects, with particular attention to the European Union methods.
At the same time, students will experience the basic concepts of the project cycle as a method for designing and managing international cooperation initiatives.
At the end of the course, the students will have acquired the ability to apply new project design knowledge in the context of international cooperation.
Students will also be able to orient themselves in the planning, formulation, financial and economic analysis, management and evaluation of development projects.
Prerequisites
None.
Teaching Methods
Being an introductory course, the didactical approach will be more oriented to practice than theory and modelling. During the workshop, students will be offered the opportunity to learn from concrete "case studies" of international cooperation projects.
In the first module, the presentation of theoretical tools will be joined to practical exercises conducted in the form of simulation of international cooperation projects.
In the second module, practical "workshops" are planned, where students will be able to analyse a large number of real co-operation cases, focused on different themes and implemented in different areas of the world.
For both modules, the practical exercises could be implemented during the lessons or at home.
The course will be led by:
- First module: Lorenzo Paoli, Head of Program Quality in Oxfam Italy;
- Second module: Alessandro Cocchi, UE Senior Advisor.
Further information
In the event that the laboratory activities are significantly inhibited or limited by anti-Covid-19 regulations, these will be partially replaced or integrated by specific thematic seminars.
Type of Assessment
The attendance to the course is not compulsory but it is strongly recommended considering the characteristics and methodologies of the lessons (it is recommended a maximum of 30% of lessons unattended per each module).
A written and/or oral final examination will be held by the students at the end of course. The course will award 6 CFU in the SECS-P / 06 disciplinary field.
The main evaluation criteria will include: (i) ability to organise and express the acquired knowledge in a fluent way; (ii) critical reasoning skills; (iii) appropriateness of the specific lexicon; (iv) quality of the presentation; (v) capacity to connect different topics.
One final mark will be issued as the average of the marks achieved per each module. A mark will be also appointed to the attendees of the group works. This mark will be averaged with the marks obtained in the final examination of each module.
Course program
First module:
- Project Cycle Management Presentation.
- Project identification: problems and objectives tree.
- Project formulation.
- Definition of the project strategy.
- Logical Framework (EU focus).
- Indicators and means of verification.
- Activity plan and budget.
- Work Breakdown Structure.
- Management of the project.
- Monitoring and evaluation of the project.
- Introduction to institutional fundraising – Analysis of a call for proposal and project form (EU focus).
- Synthesis and wrap-up of the main topics of the module.
- Job expectations in the international cooperation.
Second module:
- The legal basis of the European Cooperation for Development, its institutional organisation and how it is coordinated with the agencies for international development of the EU member states.
- General introduction to the financial and economic analysis of cooperation projects and its role in the framework of project cycle approach: financial and economic analysis, other complementary analytical tools and evaluation of projects in a situation of uncertainty.
- Financial analysis of a development project. First part: theory. Second part: workshop. An example of financial analysis of an enterprise development project.
- Financial analysis of a (multi-sector) land development project. First part: theory. Second part: workshop. An example of financial analysis of a multi-sector land development project.
- Economic analysis of a land development project. First part: theory. Second part: workshop. An example of economic analysis of an irrigation development project.
- LAB: rural development project. Workshop on an example of rural development project: the national, regional and local context, the planning instruments, the implementation phase, outcomes and sustainability.
- LAB: food and nutrition security project. Workshop on an example of food and nutrition security project: the national, regional and local context, the planning instruments, the implementation phase, outcomes and sustainability.
- LAB: climate change mitigation project. Workshop on an example of a EU project aimed at strengthening the resilience capacity of small and medium coffee producers vis à vis the effects of the climate change and/or adverse climatic conditions.
- LAB: the “Budget Support”. What is a Budget Support Programme and how it works. Examples of EU Budget Support Programmes.
LAB: methods to support the identification of priority actions for development in case of uncertainty (examples of multi-criteria analysis).
Seminars (indicative examples):
- Food security and food sovereignty from an economic and legal perspective.
- SARS-Cov 2 and hunger: how the pandemic affected the fight against hunger in the World.
- Origin and mitigation methods of the current World food crisis.
- Climatic Justice and Development.
Method of the seminar activities: the attendees will form work groups, one for each seminar subject. Each work group will elaborate a paper on the subject assigned to be present to all the students for in-depth analysis and open discussion.
Sustainable Development Goals 2030
Agenda 2030 for the Sustainable Development is integral part of the course. The main Sustainable Development Goals that will be examined and discussed during the class will be the following: no poverty (no. 1), reduced inequalities (no. 10) and climate action (no. 13).