The global classroom and new challenges
From its inception, the program utilized a unique hybrid model—combining asynchronous digital learning with physical gatherings—to create a "global classroom" accessible across socio-economic, national and gendered divides. While the program was renamed in 2023, reflecting a world of complex uncertainties, it remains dedicated to its founding philosophy: enabling diverse individuals across the world to co-construct knowledge and become agents for social change.
The anniversary conference aims to critically discuss how we can maintain inclusive education and academic freedom in a political climate marked by authoritarian nationalism and shifting narratives of crisis. Today, the program faces new challenges, such as the imposition of tuition fees for students outside EU-EEA, which threatens the very reach it has cultivated for 20 years.
On the 12th of March 2026, through keynote speeches and panel debates, with representatives from the development sector, NGOs, student organizations, academia and international guests, we will discuss these challenges and how to meet them. By reflecting on our 20-year journey, we aim to ensure the program continues to prepare graduates for vital roles in NGOs, diplomacy, and humanitarian work for decades to come.
Please register if you wish to attend physically or digitally by the 8th of March
Registration form for the 12th of March (hybrid)
Registration form for workshop 13th of March (only physical)
Background: 20 years of development management and North-South collaboration
When the Master's Program in Development Management (DM) was established in 2005, the original vision was to foster collaborative learning across the North-South divide. This vision was made possible with key support from the Norwegian Centre for International Cooperation in Higher Education (SIU) and Norad’s Programme for Master Studies (NOMA). The funding was essential since it enabled the DM programme to recruit international students from the first year.
The DM programme was built on a collaboration with the United Nations University and the United Nations Environment Programme (UNEP), and international partnerships with esteemed institutions including Mzumbe University (Tanzania), Kwame Nkrumah University of Science and Technology (Ghana), Mekelle University (Ethiopia), and the Makerere University (Uganda). Two years later, the University of Ruhuna (Sri Lanka) also came in as an active partner, and this collaboration continues to be vital for both our master and bachelor students who go to Sri Lanka for a field course every year.
Program 12th of March
Room: B1 001
08.30: Coffee - Meet and greet
09.00: Welcome by Morgan Scoville-Simonds, Head of Department, Global Development and Planning (IGUS)
09.05: Opening address by Hans Kjetil Lysgård, Pro-Rector at UiA
09.15: Introduction: The history of the MA program by Hanne Haaland, Dept. of Global Development and Planning
09.35: Keynote speech 1: Global Development in Crisis by Dr Sebeka Richard Plaatjie, University of South Africa
10.35: Break with coffee and fruit
10.50: Video montage
11.00: Panel discussion 1: Is global development in crisis? And if so, what are the consequences and what should be done?
Panelists: Dr. Sebeka R. Plaatjie (University of South Africa), Nikolai Hegertun (NORAD), Anne Breivik (Strømmestiftelsen), Arnhild Leer-Helgesen (NFU). Chair: Hanne Haaland (IGUS).
12.00: Lunch
13.00: Keynote speech 2: Education without borders: Challenges of the Global Classroom by Dr. Hilde Refstie, NTNU
13.55: Break with coffee and fruit
14.10: Panel discussion 2: Does online equal inclusive? Future directions in online learning of development studies (hybrid)
Panelists: Cynthia Thais Alfaro Sandoval (SAIH), Nisantha Kurukulasooriya (University of Ruhuna), Ruth Nsibirano (Makerere University), Mulatu Moges (IGUS), Vito Laterza (IGUS). Chair: Tererai Obey Sithole.
15.40: Honouring
16.00: Concluding remarks: Developing Development Management - lessons learned by Professor Arne Olav Øyhus (Påsan)
16.15: Toasts and socializing
18.00: Dinner for invited guests
Workshop 13th of March
Room: B3 007
Chairs: Eric Kimathi and Astrid Stensrud, Dpt. of Global Development and Planning, UiA
Discussant: Dr. Sebeka R. Plaatjie, University of South Africa
09.30: Coffee - Meet and greet
10.00: Welcome and introduction
10.05-10.35: Kurukulasooriya A. Nisantha: Rethinking Heritage Tourism for Inclusive Development: Lessons from the Cultural Triangle in Sri Lanka
10.35-11.05: Tharindu Nuwan Gamage: No Landslide Risk, Yet Elephants and Kidney Disease: Colonial structures, Neoliberal Relocation Logic and the Perpetuation of Vulnerability in Meeriyabedda, Sri Lanka
11.05-11.15: Coffee
11.15-11.45: Janice Bemah Sarpong: Development Aid Uncertainty and Health System Strain: Crisis Narratives and Implications for HIV and TB Care in Rural KwaZulu-Natal, South Africa
11.45-12.15: Maritza Milena Muñoz Delgado: Between Chronic Crises and Possible Futures: Ecotourism, Rural Women, and Territorial Transformation in Yacuanquer, Nariño- Colombia
12.15-13.15: LUNCH
13.15-13.45: Tonje Markussen: Coloniality, Crisis and Creative Agency: Afro‑Dominican Youth Navigating Race and Social Class through Artistic Expression
13.45-14.15: Tererai Obey Sithole: Tracing ruling relations within the work of Polish based citizen aid actors
14.15-14.45: Eric Kimathi, Solomon Kebede and Dianah Nampijja: Shrinking Aid and Whispers of Crisis: Examining Media Reports on How USAID’s Closure and Aid Cuts Are Reshaping NGO Landscapes in Kenya, Uganda, And Ethiopia.
14.45-15.00: Wrapping up
Film and panel discussion 13th March: "A fox under a pink moon"
Location: Cinemateket, Kongens gate 6
DOCUMENTARY FROM IRAN AT CINEMATEKET. On Friday March 13, 18:00 we are collaborating with HUMAN international film festival in Oslo and Cinemateket Kristiansand to showcase the documentary “A Fox under a Pink Moon” at Aladdin Cinema. The documentary had its Norwegian Premier on March 2 at the 2026 HUMAN festival in Oslo and has received great reviews.
The documentary screening is part of the program of the 20th-anniversary conference of our Master's programme in Global Development, Crisis and Change (previously named Master's programme in Development Management).
“A Fox under a Pink Moon” is a 2025 documentary that follows the 16-year-old Afghan artist, Soraya, who has been trying to escape Iran for over five years to reunite with her mother in Austria. The film closely follows Soraya, who uses art to express her fears, joys, and the trauma of a brutal marriage. Soraya filmed her own journey over five years on her mobile phone, creating an intimate, raw self-portrait.
After the documentary (75 min), there will be a panel conversation with staff from Department of Global Development and Planning and Centre for Gender and Equality at UiA.
Bio - Keynote speakers
Dr. Sebeka R. Plaatjie, University of South Africa
Dr Sebeka Plaatjie is a senior lecturer in the Department of Development Studies at the University of South Africa (UNISA). He is an academic with over 15 years in academic research and training of undergraduate and graduate students. He has contributed to shaping the pedagogical landscape of Development Studies at undergraduate and postgraduate levels, developing courses on rural development, community development and critical development debates, from an African philosophical perspective. Some of Sebeka Plaatje’s work has been prescribed as part of study material for students in Development Studies and African Studies at various universities.
Sebeka Plaatjie served as a Deputy Editor of Africanus, the Journal of Development Studies, and he is the current President of The South African Development Studies Association (SADSA). He has also been appointed to the Editorial Advisory Board of the European Journal of Development Research and Training Institutes as of January 2026. His research and scholarly leadership have consistently aimed to develop Development Studies as both an academic field and a moral enterprise rooted in liberation, justice, and human dignity, and has contributed to contemporary debates on decolonial development and African thought, focusing on how epistemologies of the south and African philosophy can assist the reimagination of Universal development paradigms.
Dr. Hilde Refstie, Norwegian University of Science and Technology (NTNU)
Dr. Hilde Refstie is a geographer at the Norwegian University of Science and Technology (NTNU). Her research focuses on community-based responses to crisis, spanning both conflict and climate change adaptation in displacement settings. Her work is grounded in action oriented and co-creative research approaches. Hilde Refstie is study programme leader for NTNUs international interdisciplinary MSc Global Relations and Sustainable Development and leads the Gemini Center Global Impact.
More information about Refstie´s research, teaching and publications can be found on this webpage.
Contact person:
- astrid.b.stensrud@uia.no
- Phone
- +47 38 14 14 48