Unit LABORATORY OF INTERNATIONAL COOPERATION

Course
International relations
Study-unit Code
A005428
Curriculum
In all curricula
Teacher
Lyda Favali
Teachers
  • Lyda Favali
Hours
  • 40 ore - Lyda Favali
CFU
4
Course Regulation
Coorte 2025
Offered
2026/27
Learning activities
Altro
Area
Altre conoscenze utili per l'inserimento nel mondo del lavoro
Sector
NN
Type of study-unit
Obbligatorio (Required)
Type of learning activities
Attività formativa monodisciplinare
Language of instruction
English
Contents
The course takes students from the basic concepts of development cooperation to the practice of international project design. After setting out the actors, sources, and instruments of cooperation, students learn to draft for themselves some of the main documents through which a project takes shape.
The course is organised in two phases. The first, theoretical (approx. 15 hours), offers an overview of the origins and basic concepts of development cooperation, of the main actors of cooperation at the various levels — international, regional, national, and subnational — and of its main sources, so as to provide the essential coordinates for approaching the applied phase with awareness.
The second phase, practical and applied (approx. 25 hours), is devoted to the tools for the formulation and implementation of cooperation projects. Through numerous concrete examples, students become familiar with EU terminology and technical documentation and learn first of all to read a call for proposals, recognising its eligibility and evaluation criteria and its budget constraints. They then learn the fundamentals of the Project Cycle Management (PCM) methodology and work through its various phases, from the analysis of context and needs — problem tree, objective tree, stakeholder analysis — to the definition of activities, timing, and resources. Along the way, the course also addresses the logic of building a project budget and the principles of monitoring and evaluation (M&E), tools essential to understanding how a proposal stands up economically and how its results are measured. On this basis, and under the supervision of the lecturer, each student draws up two key project documents — the Logical Framework and the Work Plan — starting from the terms of reference (ToR) of a real project published on the European Union website. The documents are then presented and discussed in class before fellow students.
Reference texts
Students attending classes: theoretical and practical materials distributed in class.
Students not attending classes: Patrick Develtere, Huib Huyse, Jan van Ongevalle, International Development Cooperation Today – A Radical Shift Towards a Global Paradigm, Leuven University Press, 2021.
Educational objectives
Within the International Relations programme, this course is the main opportunity to learn the foundations of development cooperation and international project design and to put them to the test straight away in an applied setting. Unlike a purely theoretical course, it aims to ensure that students not only know the actors, instruments, and rules of cooperation, but are also able to use them concretely to build a project.
The main objective is twofold. In terms of knowledge, to provide an overview of the main actors of international cooperation at the various levels — global, regional, national, and subnational — of their mutual relationships, and of the instruments available to them, with particular reference to those of the European Union. In terms of competences, to teach the concrete foundations of project design through the hands-on drafting of some key documents of the project cycle.
By the end of the course, students will have acquired knowledge of the fundamental aspects of development and of its legal framework, of the main actors of development cooperation and the relationships among them, and of the main instruments of international cooperation, particularly those of the European Union. They will also have acquired a working knowledge of the Project Cycle Management (PCM) methodology and of the documents that put it into practice.
In terms of skills, that is, the ability to apply what has been learnt, students will be able to identify and describe the actors and instruments of international cooperation at the various levels; to read and interpret an EU call for proposals, recognising its criteria and constraints; to find their way among the project documents typical of international cooperation; and to draw up the main ones in practice — the Logical Framework and the Work Plan — starting from the terms of reference of a real project, also assessing their sustainability and economic soundness.
Prerequisites
There are no prerequisites. As the course is taught in English, knowledge of the language at least at an intermediate level is required, so that students can follow and take an active part in the lectures. This applies to both attending and non-attending students.
Teaching methods
The course combines frontal lectures and applied activities. The first part is delivered through frontal lectures, supported by teaching and audio-visual materials, and requires the prior reading of the materials indicated by the lecturer, in order to encourage active participation in classroom discussion.
The second part adopts a practical approach, based on the direct application of project-design tools. Through constant interaction with the lecturer, students become familiar with the procedures and documentation of international cooperation, including through the analysis of calls for proposals and project documents published by the European Union.
Starting from the terms of reference (ToR) of a real project, students draw up the two key project documents of the course — the Logical Framework and the Work Plan — subjecting them to successive revisions according to an iterative method. The final documents are presented and discussed in class.
Other information
Active classroom participation is strongly encouraged. During and at the end of each lecture, the lecturer invites participants to ask questions and seek clarification. Students may also contact her by e-mail, Teams chat, or telephone for further clarification and explanation.
Learning verification modality
Given the applied nature of the course, and of its second part in particular, attendance is strongly recommended: the project-design laboratory is based on guided work in class and on constant interaction with the lecturer, which are difficult to replace with individual study alone.
Assessment is based on two parts, corresponding to the two parts of the course: an intermediate test on the theoretical part and a final assessment on the applied part. The overall grade is determined 40% by the intermediate test and 60% by the final assessment, in proportion to the weight of the two parts (approximately 15 and 25 hours respectively).
The intermediate test takes place at the end of the theoretical part and covers its topics: the origins and basic concepts of development cooperation, and the actors and sources of international cooperation. It is held in written form; at the student's request, it may be taken orally. It is designed to assess the student's level of knowledge and their powers of comprehension and synthesis, as well as their ability to convey what they have learnt with method, a good command of language, and clarity of expression.
The final assessment consists of drawing up the two key project documents of the course — the Logical Framework and the Work Plan — starting from the terms of reference (ToR) of a real EU project. The evaluation is based on the quality of the documents drawn up individually by the student and on the ability to present and discuss them in class in a clear and effective way.
Non-attending students take a single oral examination on the whole syllabus, prepared on the text indicated for non-attending students (Develtere, Huyse, van Ongevalle, International Development Cooperation Today, Leuven University Press, 2021), without any distinction between intermediate and final assessment.
Should a student wish to sit the exam in a year earlier than the one scheduled in their study plan, it is recommended that they attend the course lectures and take the exam at the first available session after the lectures have ended, in accordance with the semester in which the course is scheduled.
Extended program
The course examines the role played by the main actors of international cooperation in the development of recipient countries and introduces the key paradigms and themes of development, before translating this framework into project practice. The theoretical overview is followed by an applied phase that accompanies students from the reading of a real call for proposals to the drafting of the documents through which a project takes shape.
Part One – Foundations of development cooperation and actors of cooperation (approx. 15 hours)
The first part sets out the conceptual and institutional framework of international cooperation, exploring its origins, its guiding principles, and the role of the actors operating in the field of development. The following topics are addressed:
• the origin, meaning, and evolution of the concept of "development assistance": from the aftermath of the Second World War through the process of decolonisation to the adoption of the 2030 Agenda; the debate on the very notion of development and the main indicators used to measure it;
• the paradigms of international cooperation, from the classical theories of development to the approach based on the concept of human and sustainable development, up to the emergence of a global perspective grounded in shared responsibility and in the equal involvement of countries traditionally regarded as donors and recipients;
• the recipients of development aid policies: fragile states, least developed countries, and emerging economies, together with the criteria and rationales underlying the relevant international classifications;
• state actors, with particular reference to Italian development cooperation and its 2014 reform (Law no. 125 of 11 August 2014, which replaced the 1987 framework), including the establishment of the Italian Agency for Development Cooperation (AICS);
• non-state actors: civil-society organisations and Third Sector entities engaged in cooperation — including non-governmental organisations (NGOs), both national and international — alongside the growing role of the private sector, foundations, and South-South cooperation;
• the sources of cooperation at the various levels, from treaties and binding instruments to forms of soft law.
Part Two – Project-design laboratory (approx. 25 hours)
The second part is devoted to the operational dimension of international cooperation and introduces the Project Cycle Management (PCM) methodology, adopted by the European Union and the main international donors. This approach provides a shared methodological framework for the planning, management, and evaluation of development interventions. The laboratory follows step by step the activities typical of a project designer, from defining the problem to drafting the project proposal and identifying the tools for monitoring and evaluation.
• Analysis of calls for funding. How to read and interpret a call for proposals: guidelines, eligibility and exclusion criteria, evaluation criteria, financial constraints, and deadlines. An essential preliminary step in checking the coherence and eligibility of a project proposal.
• The project cycle. The main phases of Project Cycle Management — programming, identification, formulation, implementation, and evaluation — with attention to the relationship between the strategic and operational dimensions and to the coordination among the various actors involved.
• Analysis of context and needs. The tools that allow project design to be grounded in an adequate understanding of the reality of the intervention: stakeholder analysis, problem tree, and objective tree.
• The Logical Framework. Building the intervention logic, defining objectives, results, and activities, and identifying indicators, sources of verification, assumptions, and risks. The Logical Framework is the backbone of the entire project.
• Operational planning and budget. Translating the project logic into a work plan structured over time, with its timetable, and building the budget, in order to understand the sustainability and economic feasibility of the intervention.
• Monitoring, evaluation, and sustainability. The principles and tools of monitoring and evaluation (M&E), the sustainability of results beyond the duration of the funding, and the integration of the main cross-cutting themes required by international donors, such as gender equality, environmental protection, and human rights.
The various stages of the course are accompanied by the analysis of cases and applied examples. Starting from the terms of reference (ToR) of a real project published by the European Union, students draw up, under the supervision of the lecturer, the two main project tools addressed in the course — the Logical Framework and the Work Plan — progressively applying the methodologies and tools they have acquired. The laboratory work develops according to an iterative method: through successive revisions, students arrive at the final version of their documents, which is presented and discussed in class before fellow students.
Obiettivi Agenda 2030 per lo sviluppo sostenibile
As it deals directly with development and international cooperation, the course is by its very nature connected to the whole of the 2030 Agenda: the project design that students learn to build is precisely the means by which the Sustainable Development Goals are translated into concrete action. The connection is particularly direct with Goal 17 (partnerships for the goals), which expresses the very principle of international cooperation, and with Goals 1 (no poverty), 10 (reduced inequalities, including between countries), and 16 (peace, justice, and strong institutions), which recur among the aims of the instruments and actors examined in the course. The Goals whose connection is immediate and direct are indicated in the window below.