OU International Development Seminar Series

Professor Giles Mohan, Open University, UK, lead researcher for a China-Africa project on oil and economic development supported by the DFID-ESRC Growth Research Programme (DEGRP).

Dr Dinar Kale, Senior Lecturer in International Development and Innovation, examines the problem of inadequate medical equipment, which is donated to African health centres, and is often unused. The issue is referred to as ‘a mismatch' between supply and demand by the World Health Organisation. 

Dr Kale’s research is focused on India, which, as the biggest supplier of generic drugs to developing countries, should be capable of producing the type of medical devices the Global South requires, but which has been so far constraint by red tape.
Dr Kale’s research is a part of International Development research at The Open University.

Elizabeth Erling, Lore Gallastegi and Leigh-Anne Perryman (OU) discuss their latest research, including studies on increasing the presence of female role models in schools in Malawi and the impact of the TESS-India teacher education project.

OU International Development Seminar Series

Professor Helen Sharp (Computing and Communications) and Dr Nicole Lotz (Engineering and Innovation)
The Open University 

OU International Development Seminar Series

Professor Steve Tombs
The Open Universitry

Abstract

The night of 2/3 December, 2014 will mark the 30th anniversary of the gas leak which killed thousands at a Union Carbide chemical plant in Bhopal, Madhya Pradesh. In this presentation I address and assess the complex claims and counter-claims around responsibility for the disaster, and seek to demonstrate that both the civil settlement and recent criminal cases have failed to provide justice for the victims and to apply justice to the perpetrators.

OU International Development Seminar Series

Henrietta Blackmore
Save the Children
Head, East Africa Regional Portfolio Team 

Abstract

The funding environment for overseas aid and development is becoming increasingly complex, and donors continue to introduce stricter requirements to demonstrate value for money and effectiveness.  This seminar will explore current trends, focusing on Save the Children’s work in Ethiopia to consider the possible impact on our work and useful responses for NGOs and government partners.

OU International Development Seminar Series

Dr. Mary Upton
The Open University

The Hargreaves review (2011) of UK Intellectual Property noted the weakness of the evidentiary base on the impact of patents and how they are used in the UK. Suma Athreye (Brunel Business School) explores some of the issues.

Do the BRICS countries herald a new dawn for democracy or continued political repression? Professor Patrick Bond (University of KwaZulu-Natal, South Africa) discusses BRICS: An Anti-Capitalist Critique, his new book from Pluto Press, co-edited with Ana Garcia.

Valerie Amato (OU) highlights emerging and future models of multi-stakeholder collaboration, and shows the relevance of systems thinking and complexity science to the collective learning and action necessary if the global goals are to be realised.

Towards Inclusive Innovation, Asian Drivers, Global Value Chains and the Role of Commodities: Celebrating Raphael Kaplinsky’s Research.

To watch: https://www.open.ac.uk/ikd/podcasts/towards-inclusive-innovation-asian-drivers-global-value-chains-and-role-commodities.

Using a Freirean approach to review the global labour movement's identity, Fenella Porter (ILTUS, Ruskin College) argues that many trade unions need to reform not just their structures but their relationship with workers and the new landscape of work.

Drawing on child labour debates from Latin America, Jean Grugel (Geography, OU) sheds light on the impact of global rights-based norms in local contexts and explores the trend to international standard setting for what 'development' means.

Linking analytical perspectives on NGOs’ roles, social justice and the neoliberalisation of nature, Les Levidow (DPP, OU) investigates the alliances around approaches to natural capital and how these link environment and development issues.

As part of the OU's Spotlight series, Visiting Professor Smita Srinivas (TCLab, Columbia University, New York) and IKD Deputy Director Theo Papaioannou are interviewed by Julius Mugwagwa about their collaboration on inclusive innovation and development research. An edited version of the interview is also available.

https://www.open.ac.uk/ikd/podcasts/spotlight-inclusive-innovation-and-development

As part of the OU's Getting to Know podcast series, members of MCT, including IKD's Julius Mugwagwa and Dinar Kale, provide a short introduction to their research and teaching. Both Julius and Dinar's work centres on the provision of affordable and appropriate healthcare in developing countries. 

Raphael Kaplinsky, Professor of International Development at the Development Policy and Practice, discusses the significance of global value chains during Duke's Global Summit on Governance and Development in a Value Chain World.