Environmental Studies/Global Development Studies 295.01

“NGOs, Development and the Environment” Dr Mary Seely, director of the Desert Research Foundation of Namibia, a Namibian NGO (nongovernmental organization), will offer this course. Using case studies, this course will explore how NGOs can contribute to enhanced livelihoods, poverty alleviation and environmental sustainability within the shifting context of international, national and local paradigms, institutions and policy frame conditions. Readings and discussions will review various perspectives, including our own, on roles of and appropriate interactions amongst more formal (e.g. government/ universities) and less formal institutions (NGOs) in developing countries. Course participants will design a ‘perfect’ NGO for a developing country as the last exercise of this short course. Dates: 19-30 April. Short course deadlines apply. Prerequisites: A 200-level course in at least one of the following departments – Anthropology, Biology, Economics, Political Science, or Sociology. 1 credit.