This project is carried out jointly by Warsaw School of Social Sciences and Humanities (SWPS), Global Development Research Group (GDRG) and Norwegian Institute of International Affairs (NUPI).

Our goal is to identify the current status of educational offer in Poland in terms of international development cooperation (IDC) and to establish permanent training grounds for education of IDC leaders. Meeting this goal will be possible through transfer of international best practices, namely the experiences of the Nordic model, promotion of international research and education initiatives and making usage of Polish transformation experiences.

• Stage 1 – identifying the current status of IDC educational offer in Poland;
• Stage 2 – research on labor market needs and prospects of IDC in Poland and analysis of the possibilities of transferring the Nordic model to Poland;
• Stage 3 – organization and implementation of the first edition of postgraduate studies at SWPS.

All stages will be complemented by scientific meetings and seminars, international conference „Development Studies in Central and Eastern Europe”, publications and other activities undertaken by project’s partners.

We do realize that IDC is relatively new subject in Poland and knowledge concerning this issue is quite limited. Poland, as a new actor of IDC, faces the need to build proper institutions and to integrate the community working within this field. In order to reach this goal, it is essential not only to create a coherent educational offer, but also to construct scientific and factual basis that would support community and practitioners of IDC.

Another challenge identified in the course of preparation to the project’s implementation is the need to integrate research and education activities undertaken in Poland. Such necessity refers to IDC, but also to broader phenomena of global development and it constitutes the basis for „Democratic Governance for Development” program run by GDRG.

Within this framework, one of the key issues is the mutual interrelationship between development and other social processes, including those form the sphere of politics, like democratization, participation, solidarity, good and self governance. The experiences of Polish transformation with its twofold agenda: political and socio-economic one will play vital role throughout the project as a source of inspiration. Therefore, the implementation of the Nordic model, especially its emphasis on linking research and education, will be enriched by experiences and knowledge specific for Central and Eastern Europe. We do see it as a major reasons behind success of the postgraduate program that will be the direct result of the project.

Carrying out the project is supposed to create a common ground for discussion, research and education with regard to IDC, but also to strengthen the debate on mutual relations between democratization, social and economic transformation and – finally – social and economic development.