NADEL MAS students return from project assignments abroad
During their on-the-job training, NADEL MAS students confronted challenges at the intersection of development cooperation, humanitarian aid and peacebuilding.
All MAS students completed 8-to-10-month project assignments abroad with development cooperation organizations. The project assignments are designed to immerse students in complex working environments where they can apply what they learnt during their studies to the realities on the ground. The overseas project assignments are a unique feature of the ETH NADEL MAS programme.
From remote Ethiopia to Colombia, Morocco, Namibia, Cambodia, and Jordan - students confronted challenges at the intersection of development cooperation, humanitarian aid and peacebuilding. Assignments covered topics including energy access, resilient food systems, sustainable tourism, refugee empowerment, water and sanitation, skills development and healthcare.
Student’s reflections? “It was very enriching – I was able to work directly with the schools and teachers which gave me the feeling of moving forward together,” said Tamara von Rotz, who worked with Swisscontact on their Skills to Build project in Mozambique.
The greatest challenges? Covid, conflict and changing plans.
Turbulence, uncertainty and ambiguity have become the norm in many countries where the Covid-19 pandemic overlapped with conflict and disasters. Many students faced strict lockdowns due to Covid-19 and had to adapt to remote work, some had to complete their assignments in Switzerland due to conflict in their host countries, and others had to adapt to natural hazards or changing priorities. “Planning is good,” said Wolfgang Schneider who completed his assignment with Caritas Switzerland in Ethiopia, “but flexibility is also needed.”
At the return workshop, students put their heads together to reflect on good and bad practices – including questions of aid effectiveness, decoloniality, results-based project management and how to fail productively in development and cooperation. “Despite all the challenges, I learned a lot for my professional and personal life,” said Tamara von Rotz.
We’re happy to welcome the MAS students back to ETH Zürich for their final semester of study.