scholarly journals Massive Open Online Courses (MOOC) within the Framework of International Developmental Cooperation as a Strategy to Achieve Sustainable Development Goals

2020 ◽  
Vol 12 (23) ◽  
pp. 10187
Author(s):  
María José Sosa-Díaz ◽  
María Rosa Fernández-Sánchez
Keyword(s):  
Sustainable Development ◽  
International Development ◽  
Latin American ◽  
Online Teaching ◽  
Online Courses ◽  
Development Cooperation ◽  
Development Organizations ◽  
Massive Online Open Courses ◽  
Development Goals ◽  
Open Courses

Massive Online Open Courses (MOOCs) offer the opportunity to implement a quality education timetable for those who lack the means due to economic, travel, or temporary availability limitations. Because of this, some non-governmental development organizations (NGOs), working in Latin American countries, are trying to implement this type of educational model within their educational projects. This article presents a case study on the development of a MOOC within the framework of international development cooperation carried out by an NGO and the National Autonomous University of Nicaragua. The research aims to analyze the opportunities and challenges of free, open, online teaching as a tool for achieving Sustainable Development Goal 4, and explore new educational possibilities to train people and contribute to the development of the communities in which they live. From a qualitative approach, grounded theory has been used as a holistic methodology for collecting, analyzing, and interpreting data, allowing the generation of theory in a systematic way. The most effective pedagogical models are evidenced to achieve the learning objectives and observe the challenges to be faced in order to achieve the effectiveness of MOOCs in this context. In conclusion, more applied research is needed to address the challenges that today’s societies, in times of pandemic, are facing at an educational and sustainability level.

scholarly journals China’s Belt and Road Initiative 2.0

2019 ◽  
Vol 05 (02) ◽  
pp. 233-248
Author(s):  
Jiahan Cao
Keyword(s):  
Sustainable Development ◽  
International Development ◽  
Development Cooperation ◽  
Belt And Road Initiative ◽  
Host Countries ◽  
Developmental Needs ◽  
2030 Agenda ◽  
Development Agenda ◽  
Belt And Road ◽  
Development Goals

As China’s Belt and Road Initiative (BRI) quickly evolves into an updated version for realizing high-quality development, its long-term success will increasingly depend on how well it can earn international legitimacy and credibility. Since sustainability is a critical source of credibility for the BRI, it is necessary to move the BRI forward by amplifying its role as a development agenda and tapping its potential to support global sustainable development and facilitate implementation of the United Nations’ 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development (2030 Agenda) through delivering more public goods to other developing countries. The BRI projects designed to strengthen infrastructure inter-connectivity can greatly fit the developmental needs of countries along the routes and expedite their achievement of sustainable development goals (SDGs), both explicitly and implicitly. Besides, the growing alignment between the BRI and the 2030 Agenda will generate more strengths and opportunities for China to be recognized as an indispensable player in international development cooperation, enhance the capacity of the BRI to manage environmental, social and governance risks in host countries, promote social cohesion and inclusiveness along the routes, and ultimately transcend short-term economic and political interests for China to win the hearts and minds of other stakeholders involved in the BRI.

scholarly journals Learning Design Decisions in Massive Open Online Courses (MOOC) Applied to Higher Education in Civil-Engineering Topics

2020 ◽  
Vol 12 (20) ◽  
pp. 8430
Author(s):  
Eva Gómez-Llanos ◽  
Pablo Durán-Barroso
Keyword(s):  
Higher Education ◽  
Civil Engineering ◽  
Online Courses ◽  
University Education ◽  
Teaching Methodology ◽  
Design Decisions ◽  
Massive Online Open Courses ◽  
Development Goals ◽  
Open Courses ◽  
The Relationship

Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) reflect the relationship among social, economic, and environmental aspects of society. Massive online open courses (MOOCs) represent an opportunity to promote lifelong learning (SDG 4), complementing university education or providing knowledge to society free and openly. The objective of this work is to analyze experiences in one MOOC about wastewater treatment applied to higher education in civil engineering (SDG 6). The proposed educational methodology and the achieved participation results are studied. The MOOC had three editions and was hosted on the Miríadax platform. Data about sociodemographic characteristics, initial motivation, and satisfaction level were collected from questionnaires. The results highlighted the importance of design decisions to obtain a high completion rate: defining a target audience, without prejudice to the course’s open character, where the prior knowledge of students is crucial. The teaching methodology is based on autonomous and progressive learning, with short and direct master classes, social support, with the motivation of students to continue their training with opening complementary topics in the forums, following up on their doubts, and their combination with social networks.

Post-2015 Development Agenda: From Concept to Practice

2015 ◽  
Vol 03 (02) ◽  
pp. 1550015
Author(s):  
Ying CHEN
Keyword(s):  
Sustainable Development ◽  
Developing Countries ◽  
International Development ◽  
Sustainable Development Goals ◽  
Development Cooperation ◽  
Global Partnership ◽  
Development Agenda ◽  
Key Issues ◽  
Development Goals ◽  
International Development Cooperation

The latest progress towards achieving the Millennium Development Goals (MDGs) shows that MDGs have made a profound difference in people's lives, which is the most important achievement of international development cooperation in past 15 years. Based on experience of formulation and implementation of MDGs, United Nations launched international processes of the Post-2015 Development Agenda including negotiations to define Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs). In this paper, comparing processes defining MDGs and SDGs, some new characteristics were identified and some key issues were analyzed. It seems difficult to balance interests of developed and developing countries and there are also great challenges to implement SDGs effectively in the future especially in developing countries. It required building a new global partnership for sustainable development to promote transformation.

scholarly journals Evolution of Partnerships for Sustainable Development: The Case of P4G

2020 ◽  
Vol 12 (16) ◽  
pp. 6485
Author(s):  
Gayoung Choi ◽  
Taeyoung Jin ◽  
Yoonjeong Jeong ◽  
Sue Kyoung Lee
Keyword(s):  
Sustainable Development ◽  
International Development ◽  
Development Cooperation ◽  
The Sustainable Development ◽  
The Public ◽  
Goods And Services ◽  
Development Goals ◽  
The Relationship ◽  
International Development Cooperation

The Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs), also known as Global Goals, were adopted by the United Nations (UN) in 2015 with a universal call for action to achieve a better and global sustainable future by 2030. Public-private partnerships (PPPs) have been recognized as an innovative mechanism for achieving UN SDGs because they help the public sector provide basic goods and services by enabling the use of the experience and funds of the private sector. This study examines the PPP network by visualizing the relationship among stakeholders through social network analysis. Considering the case of the Partnership for Green Growth and Global Goals 2030 (P4G), this study investigates the actors and the relationship between the actors by stage and year. As a result, the study visualized the network of PPPs in P4G, thereby revealing that the partnerships were evolving since the participants’ relationships became stronger each year. Moreover, the role of each actor became clearer at each stage. The findings provide practical guidance for practitioners interested in promoting international development cooperation through PPPs in the future.

scholarly journals New Challenges for Russia’s Foreign Aid and Its Contribution to the Sustainable Development Goals

2020 ◽  
Vol 15 (1) ◽  
pp. 63-83
Author(s):  
Yuriy Zaitsev ◽  
Keyword(s):  
Sustainable Development ◽  
International Development ◽  
Sustainable Development Goals ◽  
Systemic Change ◽  
Development Assistance ◽  
Monitoring And Evaluation ◽  
Development Cooperation ◽  
The Sustainable Development ◽  
Development Goals ◽  
The Creation

The article discusses current trends in the Russian practice of international development assistance (IDA). Despite international isolation, the Russian government continued to increase its allocations for official development assistance (ODA), which, from 2015, amount to about USD1 billion annually. The author identifies key problems in the field of IDA related to monitoring and evaluation, the achievement of the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) and interaction with the business sector. The author describes the actions of the government in its quest to solve these problems. Special emphasis is placed on a comparative analysis of the SDG indicators with indicators of national development goals until 2024. This makes it possible to link Russian goals with international priorities. The theoretical basis of this study is the ‘systemic change’ and ‘scaling up approach’, which are often used in research on development economics. A “large-scale approach” allows us to measure the scale of Russia's participation in construction and installation work in terms of the number of allocated resources, the number of stakeholders involved, geographical coverage, etc. The “systemic change” approach explains how Russia's development cooperation activities are aligned with national goals and the SDGs, as well as the transformation in the structure and dynamics of the system, which leads to an impact on the material conditions or behavior of stakeholders. In conclusion, the author reflects on the prospects for the creation of a national monitoring and evaluation system in the area of ​​IDA, as well as on the possibilities of contributing to the achievement of the SDGs by 2030. One of the directions could be increased participation in the formation of new international development institutions, including the creation of the New Development Bank (NDB) and the Asian Infrastructure Investment Bank (AIIB) along with the expansion of bilateral programs in the field of international development assistance.

Restructuring Educational Systems and Promoting Social Justice for Young People Involved in Drug Trafficking in Brazil

2019 ◽  
Vol 227 (2) ◽  
pp. 139-143 ◽  
Author(s):  
Alex Sandro Gomes Pessoa ◽  
Linda Liebenberg ◽  
Dorothy Bottrell ◽  
Silvia Helena Koller
Keyword(s):  
Sustainable Development ◽  
Social Justice ◽  
Young People ◽  
Latin American ◽  
Drug Trafficking ◽  
Sustainable Development Goals ◽  
Educational Systems ◽  
Economic Changes ◽  
2030 Agenda ◽  
Development Goals

Abstract. Economic changes in the context of globalization have left adolescents from Latin American contexts with few opportunities to make satisfactory transitions into adulthood. Recent studies indicate that there is a protracted period between the end of schooling and entering into formal working activities. While in this “limbo,” illicit activities, such as drug trafficking may emerge as an alternative for young people to ensure their social participation. This article aims to deepen the understanding of Brazilian youth’s involvement in drug trafficking and its intersection with their schooling, work, and aspirations, connecting with Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) 4 and 16 as proposed in the 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development adopted by the United Nations in 2015 .

Global Health and International Development

2018 ◽  
pp. 216-235
Author(s):  
Andrew Harmer ◽  
Jonathan Kennedy
Keyword(s):  
Climate Change ◽  
Sustainable Development ◽  
Global Health ◽  
Economic System ◽  
International Development ◽  
Sustainable Development Goals ◽  
The Sustainable Development ◽  
Development Goals ◽  
The Relationship ◽  
Global Population

This chapter explores the relationship between international development and global health. Contrary to the view that development implies ‘good change’, this chapter argues that the discourse of development masks the destructive and exploitative practices of wealthy countries at the expense of poorer ones. These practices, and the unregulated capitalist economic system that they are part of, have created massive inequalities between and within countries, and potentially catastrophic climate change. Both of these outcomes are detrimental to global health and the millennium development goals and sustainable development goals do not challenge these dynamics. While the Sustainable Development Goals acknowledge that inequality and climate change are serious threats to the future of humanity, they fail to address the economic system that created them. Notwithstanding, it is possible that the enormity and proximity of the threat posed by inequality and global warming will energise a counter movement to create what Kate Raworth terms ‘an ecologically safe and socially just space’ for the global population while there is still time.

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