On The Guardian’s Global Development Professionals Network page, I recently came across an article and from where I ‘borrowed’ the title for this blog post. In that short article (which you can see here) the author raises some interesting points about current international development practice. The central question posed by the author is whether International … Continue reading The continued existence of international development researchers
Research
Metaphors we fly by: 2 weeks at the University of Surrey
How time flies! (that is a metaphor right there but I will get to that later). With a mixture of sadness and gladness, today is my last day in Guildford where I have been on a research visit to the University of Surrey for the past two weeks. It has been a very good and productive … Continue reading Metaphors we fly by: 2 weeks at the University of Surrey
Researcher Reflexivity in Planning Research: My view from Elmina, Ghana*
As a Ghanaian keenly interested in the development of my country I feel very frustrated most times when I think of the considerable abuse of power coupled with the systemic and structural constraints to innovative thinking among planners and policy makers. Within this context of yearning for development in Ghana, the conduct of my fieldwork … Continue reading Researcher Reflexivity in Planning Research: My view from Elmina, Ghana*
100 key research questions for the post-2015 development agenda: a research paper
I am please to announce the publication of a new research article that identifies 100 key questions to be considered in the context of the new Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs). In March, 2015 I wrote a short blog post about a working paper that was published as part of a research project I was involved in … Continue reading 100 key research questions for the post-2015 development agenda: a research paper
The Millennium Development Goals (MDGs) are dead! 100 key questions for the post-2015 development agenda
The Millennium Development Goals (MDGs) will be dead by the end of this year (2015). There are many ways to write the obituary of this global endeavour. Irrespective of how you write it, one thing remains true and that is, the MDGs were (over) ambitious but they brought global attention to a number of issues. There … Continue reading The Millennium Development Goals (MDGs) are dead! 100 key questions for the post-2015 development agenda
On the making of academic country experts in international development
Just last week Thursday 12th March, 2015, I attended the 6th Annual Sheffield Institute for International Development (SIID) Postgraduate Conference here at the University of Sheffield. This year's theme was “Reflecting on development: Global narratives, local realities” with a number of interesting PhD student presentations. A thought-provoking keynote address by Prof. Diana Mitlin raised a number of … Continue reading On the making of academic country experts in international development
What a topsy-turvy week!
What a topsy-turvy week it was last week. Last week was my first working week in Sheffield after I got back from my fieldwork research in Ghana (more about that in a post soon). I had great expectations for the week which I had already made plans for while still in Ghana. My plan was … Continue reading What a topsy-turvy week!
Why I am an unplanned PhD planner
“Oh, so you are a planner” “Will you go and work as a planning officer when you complete?” “Hurry up and come help plan our country” These are some of the most common comments I tend to get when I inform people that am doing a PhD at the Department of Town and Regional Planning, … Continue reading Why I am an unplanned PhD planner
Emmanuel Akwasi Adu-Ampong 