Innovation and International Development

Course goals

Content

This course offers students insights into innovation in the global South and innovation for the global South, especially in the context of sustainable development. Since the 1940s, science, technology, and innovation (STI) have been at the very core of international development. International development organizations have sought to promote development by providing technical assistance and technology transfer, and nowadays STI are deemed central in achieving the Sustainable Development Goals. Attempts to leverage STI for international development have been underpinned by diverging theories and approaches. Yet each approach shares an unwavering belief that STI is crucial for international development.

In this course, students learn to critically assess the role of science, technology and innovation for international development. How can we best understand the relation between STI and development? How can STI best be leveraged for international development? What are some of the pitfalls and risks of STI for development? To answer these questions, students will be introduced to historical and global shifts in the production of STI in low-income countries; to different theories and conceptions of the relation between STI and sustainable development; and to corresponding implications for business models and measuring STI in and for low-income countries.

The course will be highly interactive and will closely align with ongoing research on STI in low-income countries at the Copernicus Institute of Sustainable Development. Experts from different groups at the Copernicus Institute will be involved.