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School of Environment, Enterprise and Development (SEED)

Programs

Development Practice (MDP)
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The Master of Development Practice (MDP) offered by the School of Environment, Enterprise and Development (SEED) is aimed at producing graduates with a set of practical skills and functional forms of knowledge in the interrelated areas of health, natural, social and management sciences as they relate to the practice of international development. Integrating these core areas of knowledge, the MDP program provides students with the substantive knowledge and practical skills required to analyze and diagnose the multi-dimensional challenges of sustainable development such as extreme poverty, climate change and infectious disease. Graduates with this integrated knowledge and expertise will constitute the foundation of a new kind of development practitioner who is a social innovator, helping to shape a just, humane and ecologically sustainable world.

The MDP program is a natural extension of the shared vision, mission and programs found in the Faculty of Environment, our International Development undergraduate program and the School of Environment, Enterprise and Development (SEED).
The MDP program provides an excellent setting for mid-career development professionals wishing to retrain themselves or to augment their current knowledge and skills for the complex challenges of the 21st Century, and for younger scholars eager to combine generalist management strengths with issue and area specific training and experience.

The MDP program is an outcome of the International Commission on Education for Sustainable Development Practice and the program at the University of Waterloo is part of the international Global MDP network of over 20 universities that offer the MDP program. The MDP program strives to educate students in practical and multi-disciplinary approaches to international development studies in ways that match the needs and aspirations of young people and leaders today. As important as the superb in-classroom training that students receive in our collegial state of the art facilities on campus, is the four month hands-on field experience in a development context that students complete after their first year in the program.

The MDP program is generously supported by the John D. and Catherine T. MacArthur Foundation.

Admission Requirements

To be considered for admission to the MDP program, applicants must:

  • Have completed a four-year Honours Bachelor's degree (or its equivalent) from a recognized university in a humanities, social science, health, engineering, environmental science, or business discipline, and have a minimum of 75% overall standing in the last two years of study.
  • A minimum of two letters of reference are required; at least one needs to be from an academic referee, and at least one needs to be from a professional referee. One of the letters must be from a referee who can attest to the leadership competencies of the applicant.
  • Upload a current curriculum vita (resume).
  • Provide a Supplementary Information Form.
  • Only qualified applicants will be invited to an interview (in-person or by telephone) to ensure that you have a background, both academically and experientially, in the areas of leadership and communication.
  • Applicants who have not completed three or more years of post-secondary work at a Canadian institution or a university at which English was the primary language of instruction, or have not completed a graduate degree at a university where English is the primary language of instruction, or have not been employed for a similar period of time in a position in which English was the primary language of business will be required to provide certification of English language proficiency through one of the accepted examinations: TOEFL score of 580 (paper-based), or 90 (internet-based) or the equivalent on one of the following comparable tests: CAEL 70, IELTS 7.0, MELAB 85. (See the English Language Proficiency page for other acceptable tests of English.)

Degree Requirements

The MDP program consists of nine (9) required courses, three milestones, a four-month field placement and three elective courses selected in one area of specialization.

Year 1: Core Curriculum: the four pillars

Pre-programme orientation (September) 

Term 1: September - December INDEV 601: Integrated Approaches to Sustainable Development (Global Classroom from Columbia University)

INDEV 602: International Development: theory and practice

INDEV 609: Methods of Sustainable Development Practices

INDEV 605: Economics for Sustainable Development
Term 2: January - April

INDEV 603: Global Health

INDEV 606: Energy and Sustainability

INDEV 604: Sustainable Cities

INDEV 607: Management for Sustainability

INDEV 608: Water and Security

Milestone: Practicum – Team Building and Leadership

                Practicum – Project Management

                Practicum – Research Methods

Term 3: May - August INDEV 611: Summer Abroad: Field Placement Project

Year 2: Specializations/areas of concentration (select one):

Term 4: September-December

Normally students will complete all three courses during the Fall semester (Sept-Dec); Some of the listed courses are not offered in the Fall semester, but will be available in Winter or Spring (to cater for cases where students are unable to complete during the normal time period). Note: some courses may not be offered in a given year. Students may be able to take equivalent courses at MDP partner universities. Students must consult with their advisor to determine an appropriate suite of courses. 

Water Resources Management

3 electives from the following list: 
INDEV 612: Introduction to Water Resources (e-course in collaboration with UWC)

INDEV 613: Water, Human Security and Development (e-course in collaboration with UWC)

INDEV 614: Integrated Water Management (e-course in collaboration with UWC)

INDEV 615: Transboundary Water Governance
Natural Resources and Sustainable Food Systems

3 electives from the following list: 
INDEV 616: Urban Food Security

ENBUS 621: Carbon Management

ENBUS 622: Product Life Cycle Assessment

GEOG 665: Environmental Planning Theory and Practice

GEOG 668: Environmental Assessment

GEOG 673: International Perspectives on Resource and Environmental Management

ERS 606: Governing Global Food and Agriculture

GEOG 639: Food Systems and Sustainability
Sustainable Urban Futures

3 electives from the following list:
INDEV 616: Urban Food Security

PLAN 602: Land Development Planning

PLAN 614: Issues in Houses

PLAN 622: Contemporary Urban Planning and Government

PLAN 648: Urban Design Philosophy and Method

PLAN 678: Advances in Public Transportation Planning, Operation and Control

PLAN 684: Physical Infrastructure and Planning

PLAN 623: Social Concepts in Planning

PLAN 625: Methods of Social Investigation for Planners

PHS 614: Health Program Evaluation
Tourism and Local Economic Development

3 electives from the following list:
TOUR 601: Contemporary Perspectives on Tourism

TOUR 603: Consequences of Tourism

TOUR 604: Social Planning for Tourism

LED 615: Community Economic Development

LED 685: Theories of Local Economic Development

LED 686: Practice of Local Economic Development
Global Governance

3 electives from the following list:
HIST 606: International Development in Historical Perspective

GGOV 610/PSCI 688: Governance of the Global Economy

GGOV 611/PSCI 689: Emerging Economies in Global Governance

GGOV 614/PSCI 614: International Business & Development

GGOV 642/PSCI 639: Global Social Policy

GGOV 650/PSCI 657: International Organizations & Global Governance

GGOV 651/PSCI 617: Unconventional Diplomacy & Global Governance

GGOV 652/PSCI 618: Non-State Actors in Global Governance

PSCI 634: Comparative Public Administration

PSCI 651: Democracy and Development

ENBUS 631: Stakeholder Engagement

ENBUS 632: Sustainability Reporting

ENBUS 642: Stakeholder Engagement, Collaborations and Partnership
Peace and Conflict Studies

3 electives from the following list:
PSCI 659: Conflict and Conflict Resolution

PSCI 655: Ethnic Conflict and Conflict Resolution

GGOV 640/PSCI 658: Human Rights in a Globalized World

Graduate Studies Office
Needles Hall, Room 2201
University of Waterloo
Waterloo, Ontario, Canada N2L 3G1
519 888 4567 x35411

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