@Massey

Kia ora, and welcome to the latest instalment of our newsletter.The last year has been a busy one for staff and students of the Institute of Development Studies at Massey, with some exciting new developments. In particular, 2012 has seen the launch of the Master of International Development which can be completed via two pathways: either a full thesis (120 credits) or research project/half thesis (60 credits, plus another 60 credits of course work). We listened to our students who had asked for the latter option because either a) they wanted to take a wider range of papers, or b) they wanted a more manageable research project, especially if studying part time or at a distance. Meanwhile, Maria and Gerard led reviews of our two core papers (131701 and 131702) so that the papers will incorporate the latest innovations in development theory, policies and practice. We are very grateful to all of those who were consulted as part of these reviews and provided suggestions regarding the content and delivery of 131701 and 131702, including past students and other stakeholders. We had a great time travelling around the country and speaking to people from ChildFund, World Vision, NZ Aid Program, Oxfam, Save the Children NZ, Auckland University and, via email, Clark University (USA).

The Development Studies Newsletter

You must be the change you wish to see in the world. Mahatma Gandhi
Best wishes to all for the remainder of the year. All of our staff are participating in the DevNet conference at Auckland University (3-5 Dec) see Important Dates below, and a number of our postgrads are also presenting papers based on their research, so we hope to catch up with many of you there! Regina

Students from Samoa, Zimbabwe, Timor Leste and Lao PDR at the 2012 welcome BBQ at Gerards house.

29-30 September: Thesis Workshop in Palmerston North. If you are thinking about doing a thesis (120 credits), research project (60 credits) or PhD with us in 2013 and you are based in NZ, you must try to attend this weekend workshop. We will cover issues such as proposal writing, methodology, ethics, funding etc. 3-5 December: DevNet Conference in Auckland http://www.idc2012.org.nz/ - this is our biennial conference, and a very valuable chance to hear about the latest development research as well as an opportunity for networking with academics, students, NGOs, policy makers and practitioners. Note, student rates are available! 7 December: research proposals due Those wanting to be considered for entry into a Masters thesis (120 credits) or research project (60 credits) in 2013 must submit their research proposal by this date. Acceptance is based on both GPA (grade point average) for your postgrad papers, and the quality of your proposal. All will be advised of the outcome before Christmas.

Important Dates

The Newsletter Institute of Development Studies, Massey University Private Bag 11 222 Palmerston North, New Zealand r.a.scheyvens@massey.ac.nz

August 2012

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PhD Completions 2011-July 2012
Congratulations to the new doctors in the house!
Sharon McLennan An alternative model for development? : promise and politics in the projecthonduras network Murad Ali The politics of development aid : the allocation and delivery of aid from the United States of America to Pakistan Vicky Walters The power to reform: water and the poverty of democracy and rights in the era of "good" governance Gerard Prinsen Negotiating on a seesaw: the decentralisation of education and health services in Uganda and Tanzania from a local perspective and in a historical context

Glenn and Maria on Sabbatical

Both A/Prof Glenn Banks and Dr Maria Borovnik are recharging their batteries, and hopefully their brains as well, by taking sabbatical leave in semester 2. Maria has started off in Kiribati where she is conducting research on the families of seafarers, then she heads for Europe to attend the International Geographical Union conference in her old stomping ground, the beautiful city of Cologne. Glenn is meanwhile based at the East-West Centre in Hawaii, where he is hoping to progress a few writing projects including a book on Unearthing Development: Large-Scale Mining in Melanesia and the Meaning of Development. And if youre worried about him working too hard, please see below:

Gerard celebrates the successful oral defence of his PhD in style: with glass of bubbly and a glass of milk!

A/Prof Glenn Banks on sabbatical leave: hes hoping to master standing on the board before returning to NZ in early October

Remember, if you have news snippets that may be of interest to our readers, please get in touch with Regina (r.a.scheyvens@massey.ac.nz; + 64 6 3505799 x2509).

Activities of IDS Massey Alumni

Henry Scheyvens (who completed his Masters in Development Studies in 1996 and went on to do a PhD at Monash University) is currently working as the Director of Natural Resources Management at the Institute for Global Environmental Strategies (IGES) in Japan. IGES participated in the Myanmar First Green Economy and Green Growth (GEGG) Forum and Conference held in Nay Pyi Taw and Yangon, from 1-4 November 2011. 1991 Nobel Peace Prize laureate, Daw Aung San Suu Kyi, attended the morning session of the final day of the GEGG Conference. Henry had the good fortune to deliver his presentation on REDD+ (reducing emissions from deforestation and forest degradation plus enhancing forest carbon stocks) during her attendance. He explained that REDD+ would only be successful in providing climate and developmental benefits if it was supported at the highest political levels, if it was underpinned by broad multi-sectoral and multistakeholder engagement, and if the rights and well-being of local communities and indigenous peoples were prioritised.

Aung San Suu Kyi (centre, front), and Henry Scheyvens (right, back)

August 2012

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Notes from Fieldwork in Ethiopia
Amy Fraser trained as an architect and had done voluntary work with Habitat for Humanity in Ethiopia before enrolling as an internal student to do her Masters in Development Studies. Returning to Addis Ababa, she researched the value of a rightsbased approach to provision of housing for the poor: Returning to the ancient nation of Ethiopia was something I had longed for since the day I left in 2010. I was eager to view the country with my new development eyes. Carrying out fieldwork for a month in a developing country was bound to pose some massive challenges and present interesting experiences and it did just that. I learnt an incredible amount, and was astounded at what I found. Literature about housing in Ethiopia is outdated and scarce so it was hard to judge what I would find. I guess that is the value and beauty of fieldwork. You get to meet with people on the ground that are dealing with the everyday effects of development. You hear their stories, successes and failures then formulate a narrative based on your findings. Throughout the month I was tearful, heartbroken, humbled, overjoyed, scrutinised and warned. I learnt about the realities of development when I was abruptly greeted with this statement on day two of fieldwork: What are rights? Do not speak of rights in this country young lady (CEO of an NGO). It doesnt matter what you read or how much you know about how development approaches should play out in theory, the rules change when you place them in a context that is volatile and oppressive. The CEO went on to teach me about street smart development with the following statement, In our country there is not such thing as a rights based approach. If you want to empower people you have to be smart, you have to show the government one side of your cards and use the reverse side to help the people. This was a humbling journey, and once again I was reconnected with wonderful people that have so little yet share so much. They are the people that truly matter and the ones that make all of this development speak real. I strive to never lose sight of that

Wellington Field Trip

A group of 131701 students and new PhD students recently took part in our annual field trip to Wellington. This year we visited the following: Council for International Development, where we were impressed to hear about how they had adapted to an 80% cut in their funding from the government...and they were impressed with the big box of doughnuts we had picked up from a small bakery in Otaki ; VSA, where the new CEO, Gill Greer, gave us a great overview of their work in the Pacific; and the New Zealand Aid Programme (MFAT), where we joined with Victoria University students in questioning the current focus of the aid programme and having round table discussions on topics ranging from governance to agriculture and humanitarian assistance. One of our students, after admitting she hadnt been looking forward to the field trip, said it had been a really informative day out: 9/10!

Scholarships and Awards

Congratulations to the following recipients! Masterate Scholarship Megan Allardice: The role of the arts, particularly contemporary dance, in international development. Joy Davidson: Young Solomon Islanders as agents of change. Joanne Waitoa: The use of social media to promote political engagement of Maori. Doctoral Scholarship Axel Malecki: How expatriate populations might assist the economy of their home country, with a focus on Chile. NZ Aid Programme: Postgraduate Field Research Awards Sandra Murphy (M.Int.Dev): The role of faa Samoa in aiding livelihood recovery after the Samoan tsunami Dennis Rockell (PhD): Examining the RSE (Recognised Seasonal Employer) scheme and whether it has skills transfer and sustainable livelihood benefits in Vanuatu Kate Averill (PhD): How we measure development results and outcomes in Asia and the Pacific

Amy (right) with a woman and child in their new home in Addis Ababa

August 2012

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Notes from the field
Dr Gerard Prinsen has been participating since 2011 in a regional research project to investigate the impact of aid modalities such as GBS and SWAps on the development policy sovereignty of Pacific Island States. This research project is a joint undertaking with Victoria University, the University of the South Pacific, and the University of New Caledonia. It is co-funded by the Marsden Fund and the French Secretariat for the Pacific. Gerard was an observer at the recent meeting in July of Pacific Island Countries and their Development Partners in Suva. Awesome to be able to witness up close and personal how members of the Pacific Islands Forum discuss and negotiate aid modalities with their Development Partners, he says.

My research investigates sport as a vehicle for international development. As part of this, I have just completed for the Vodafone Warriors on their League in Libraries (LIL) programme, part of a wider research project Utilising Sport as a Vehicle for Achieving Community Development Goals: Case Study of the NRL Vodafone Warriors One Community Programme. This research is based on a need to look for innovative methods of engaging boys in reading in both schools and in homes to improve their literacy. Via their community programmes the Vodafone Warriors use the brand name, players and former players as positive community role models.

Rochelles research with the Warriors

Dr Rochelle Stewart-Withers (left) with Petrece Kesha from the Warriors One Community Programme

As a researcher it has been pretty exciting working with the Vodafone Warriors to understand whether their programmes are having effective outcomes. They were keen to engage a university researcher to ensure they are being transparent, accountable and that their programmes are sustainable.

Amazing Race ... Around Campus

Thanks to postgrads extraordinaire, Barbara-Anne Stenson and Joy Davidson, a bunch of adventurous students (and one staff member who didnt know any better) had an action-packed Friday afternoon exploring parts of the PN campus that no one had seen before. Luckily, there were no casualties around the duck pond, but several of the racers did require assistance after running up and down the steps to Maori Studies 3 times. Congratulations to the eventual winners (by a whisker!), Justin, Trisia, Soraya and James.

August 2012

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Massey students complete internships for the Dutch Consortium for Rehabilitation (DCR)
Between February and May 2012, Amy Fraser, Carol Sasa and Melanie Pimentel worked in a web-based internship for a consortium of Dutch NGOs that carry out post-conflict rehabilitation programmes in six African post- countries. Carol reports. I found out about the DCR through Gerard and decided to give it a go. It has been a really good learning experience. The DCR admitted four interns three from Massey and one from Victoria University. For the internship we worked in pairs to produce annotated bibliographies around a number of thematic research questions. These research questions were proposed by teams of aid workers in post-conflict situations in Africa. We skyped with the DCR coordinator in the Netherlands and local DCR coordinators in Burundi to get a better understanding of the research questions, after that we emailed on progress and draft versions of our work. I found the process of compiling the bibliographies particularly useful as it helped me develop and sharpen a number of research skills. Being in the DCRs Local Governance Thematic Group worked really well for me because my MPhil Thesis is generally about local governance, hence I was able to use some of the resources I came across in the internship for my thesis.

Recent Staff Publications

Banks, G. and A. McGregor (2011) Pacific 'solutions' and imaginaries: Reshaping Pacific relations or re-colonising the 'sea of islands'? Asia Pacific Viewpoint, 52(3), 233-235. Banks, G., J. Overton, W. Murray and R. Scheyvens (2012) Paddling on one side of the canoe? The Changing Nature of New Zealands Development Assistance Programme Development Policy Review. 30 (2): 169-186 Borovnik, M. (2011) Occupational health and safety of merchant seafarers from Kiribati and Tuvalu. Asia Pacific Viewpoint 52 (3). Gilberthorpe, E. and G. Banks (2012) Development on whose terms? CSR discourse and social realities in Papua New Guineas extractive industries sector. Resources Policy. 37(2), 185-193. Murray, W.E., Overton, J., Prinsen, G. and Schott, C. (2011) Bringing the World to the Classroom Towards Virtual Reality Pedagogies for International Education Journal of International Education and Business 2 (2), pp. 7-26 Overton, J., W. Murray & G. Banks (2012) The Race to the Bottom of the Glass? Wine, geography, and globalization. Globalizations, 9(2): 273-287. Overton, J., Prinsen, G., Murray, W. E., & Wrighton, N. (2012) Reversing the Tide of Aid: Investigating Development Policy Sovereignty in the Pacific. Journal de la Socit des Ocanistes, 2 (135). Prinsen, G and Overton, J (2011) Policy, Personalities and Pedagogy: The Use of Simulation Games to Teach and Learn about Development Policy Journal of Geography in Higher Education. 35 ( 2), pp. 281-297. Scheyvens, R (2011) Tourism and Poverty. Routledge, New York. (see image) Scheyvens, R. (2011) The challenge of sustainable tourism development in the Maldives: Understanding the social and political dimensions of sustainability. Asia Pacific Viewpoint, 52: 148164. Scheyvens, R and Russell, M (2012) Tourism and poverty alleviation in Fiji: Comparing the impacts of small and large-scale tourism enterprises, Journal of Sustainable Tourism 20 (3): 417-436. Scheyvens, R and Russell, M (2012) Tourism, Land Tenure, and Poverty Alleviation in Fiji Tourism Geographies. 14(1): 1-25 Stewart-Withers, R.R. (ed.) (2011) Special Issue Pacific Knowledges Womens Studies Journal of New Zealand, 22(2). Stewart-Withers, R.R. (2011) Contesting a Third World development category: Female-headed households in Samoa. Womens Studies International Forum, 34, 171-184. Stewart-Withers, R.R. (2011) Re-positioning the experiences and situation of single mothers: Accounts from Samoa. Womens Studies Journal of New Zealand, 25(1), 47-62. Stewart-Withers, R.R. (2011, April) Sport as a Vehicle for International Development. Onepager Global Focus Aotearoa. http://www.globalfocus.org.nz

If you are interested ... later this year

If you are interested in a web-based internship with the DCR in the second semester, please check out the information set posted on the Development Studies Community Streampage, or contact Gerard. You could also contact Amy or Carol to hear from them about their experience. In addition to the web-based internships, the DCR has now also offered the first on-the-ground internships to Massey or Victoria students. Helen Mountfort from Victoria University, shares this: Shortly, I will be off to the Republic of South Sudan to conduct research with an NGO (ZOA) operating in Lainya

County (see pictures below). This internship is through the DCR-KN. The purpose of the DCR-KN is to effectively formulate evidence-based recommendations with lessons learned, and to put these lessons into practice in the on-going work of the DCR-KN. The duration of the internship is for 3 months and I am looking forward to experiencing the life and culture of South Sudan. I view this opportunity as the first step in my career in development work.

August 2012

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Masters Thesis completions 2011- July 2012
Alicia Kotsapas

Adult literacy and women's empowerment : exploring the contribution of a non-formal adult literacy programme to women's empowerment in Aileu, Timor Leste
Bruce Loluave Java

Is sustainable development a faceless rhetoric? : an assessment of educational sustainability at the Porgera Mine, Papua New Guinea
Joshua Kizito Wamalwa

The consequences of emerging cash crops on small-scale rural farmers' livelihoods : a case study of the energy crop, Jatropha Curcas L, in Kenya
One, Mel, Roni and Gloria celebrate at graduation!

Gloria Suluia Tapakea

Decentralization and central-local relations: A Solomon Islands case study

Tim Lloyd-Jones

Maintaining Masseys Time with Timor Leste

In the 1990s, Massey became home to a strong cohort of East Timorese students seeking postgraduate qualifications. Several came to the Institute of Development Studies, including Aurelio Guterres who achieved both Masters and PhDs with us. Many of our former students went on to take up important positions in East Timor (e.g. Minister of Health, Ambassador to Australia) when they gained Independence in 2002. Aurelio is currently the Rector of the National University of Timor Leste (UNTL), and we are proud to have formalised an agreement to continue the close Massey connection to Timor Leste with an MoU with UNTL. Regina visited Dili in 2011 to arrange the signing of the MoU and deliver talks at the University; Maria ran a training session on teaching techniques for new lecturers at UNTL in February 2012, and in August 2012 we hosted 6 UNTL staff who came to Massey to learn about how we do postgraduate teaching in Development Studies and to utilise library resources. Further plans include Massey staff supporting development of the research capacity of UNTL.

Male attitudes and behavioural change in Tanzania, in relation to HIV and AIDS
Sally Coughlan

Permaculture: A vision and strategy for sustainable development? A Malawian case study.
Richard MacGeorge

The role of government in setting an appropriate environment for public infrastructure development: a case study of hydropower development in Lao PDR
Quingxia Yang

Partnership for facilitating sustainable protected area management : a case study of Jiuzhaigou National Park in south-western China
Robyn Mourie

Hand rails into the ocean : contrasting human rights disability policy and real-lived experiences in the Cook Islands
Ronicera Sauaga Fuimaono

The asset-based community development (ABCD) approach in action : an analysis of the work of two NGOs in Samoa
Vilayvanh Phonepraseuth

From resettlement to sustainable livelihood development : the potential of resettlement and livelihood restoration arrangement to achieve livelihood sutainability : a case study of resettled communities on the Nakai plateau Nam Theun 2 hydropower project in Lao PDR
Melanie Pimentel

Examining links between land title and optimisation of use of the traditional lands of the Aytas of Pastolan, Philippines : rights not felt, not seen

Regina, Vice Chancellor of Massey Steve Maharey, Rector of UNTL Dr Aurelio Guterres, and Bruce Graham - International Office.

August 2012