Department of Development & Environmental Studies

Sport and Development in Practice ⚽️🏀🏋️‍♀️

🌏 Connecting Theory with Practice in Development Studies

Students of our department, enrolled in the course Selected Aspects of Development in Asia, recently had the opportunity to participate in an online guest lecture by Dr. José Luis Díaz Sánchez from the World Bank in Mongolia.

José Luis shared insights into his professional journey to the World Bank, his day to day work, and discussed key findings from two recent flagship reports - the Mongolia Economic Update and the Mongolia Country Climate and Development Report. The discussion offered students a valuable chance to engage directly with a development practitioner and gain first hand perspectives on applied development economics and policy oriented research.
See below the links to the reports:

https://documents1.worldbank.org/curated/en/099738104072630625/pdf/IDU-899ceb58-b910-449f-a934-0aec1053f796.pdf

https://documents1.worldbank.org/curated/en/099101624054532319/pdf/P500504-f824093a-2164-4358-a355-a3193194f3e9.pdf

International Academic Exchange at the Department of Development and Environmental Studies 🤩

This week, the Department of Development and Environmental Studies had the honour of hosting two colleagues from Hassan II University within the framework of the ERASMUS+ programme (ICM – International Credit Mobility).

Prof. Hajar El‑Mahdad and Intissar Salhi delivered English‑taught lectures that significantly enriched our teaching activities. Their contributions covered highly relevant and interdisciplinary topics, including Maritime Transport with a focus on the Strait of Hormuz and Machine Learning, offering our students valuable international and cross‑disciplinary perspectives.

International cooperation and academic exchange with partner universities are key priorities of our department. Such initiatives strengthen institutional partnerships and provide our students with important opportunities to engage with diverse academic approaches and global challenges.
We sincerely value this collaboration and look forward to further developing our international exchanges.

International collaboration in practice!

Doctoral students from the University of Johannesburg, Department of Anthropology and Development Studies, are actively participating in the teaching of our master’s programme GUR (Global Sustainable Development) at the Department of Development and Environmental Studies.
Thanks to the ERASMUS+ exchange programme, they bring valuable research insights and practical experience from South Africa into our field, enriching our courses with important international perspectives.

As part of the Qualitative Research course, they helped our students better understand the criteria of quality in qualitative research and shared their own experiences from fieldwork.
This collaboration benefits both sides – our master’s students gain new insights, while the doctoral students simultaneously develop their teaching skills.
Together, we learn from one another, connect research worlds, and move our teaching forward.

Thank you, Naledi and Thulani.
+

New Year, new publication.

https://link.springer.com/article/10.1007/s11205-025-03758-9

International cooperation is very important to our department because we believe it enriches both our staff and students.

We greatly appreciate the Erasmus+ program, which allows us to welcome foreign students every semester.

During the winter semester of 2025, we hosted 21 students from different parts of the world.

The photo was taken during a presentation by PhD students from the University of Johannesburg and the University of Pretoria.

We greatly value our cooperation with these universities and look forward to welcoming exchange students in the summer semester of 2026.

🎄 Merry Christmas and Happy New Year! 🎄

Thank you to all our students, alumni, and followers for your support and inspiration throughout the year.

We wish you joyful holidays filled with peace, happiness, and new ideas.

May 2026 bring you success, creativity, and exciting opportunities!

We look forward to new projects and meeting you in the coming year.

Your Department of Development and Environmental Studies

A new article was jsut published:

Lenka Dušková, Simona Šafaříková, Eva Šerá Komlossyová, and Tereza Nováková from our department, in collaboration with colleagues from the University of Sarajevo, Aida Avdič and Boris Avdič, have published a new article entitled Between Practicality and Politics: Factors of Sub-National Aid Allocation in Bosnia and Herzegovina.

The article analyzes the factors that influence the distribution of funds at the sub-national level within the framework of development cooperation in Bosnia and Herzegovina.

Article is available on the link below:
https://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/10.1002/jid.70053

🌍 Sharing Experiences Across Continents!

Our bachelor students in MRS and ESUR had a unique opportunity to meet PhD candidates from the University of Johannesburg, who are spending this semester at our department through the ERASMUS program.

🔍 Thulani Siziba presented his research and demonstrated how he approached interview analysis.

🧘 Mastshupane Naledi Mosito shared insights from her autoethnographic research.

🍲 Taboka Motsang Mutsewa introduced her study and explained how she developed codes for data analysis.

This collaboration strengthens international relations between our department and the University of Johannesburg, fosters knowledge and experience sharing, and brings inspiration for future research projects.
📚

Would you like to know more about GLODEP?

Join us on Wednesday, December 3 at 5 PM CET via Zoom:

https://cesnet.zoom.us/j/94142750008

We are looking forward to answering your questions.