■ Topics and support for under-graduate projects and
research/dissertation.
■ Supporting education centres such as the construc-
tionarium or partnering in knowledge portals.
■ Sharing professional development training resources with
academic partners.
■ Joint ventures on research and business start-ups and
incubators.
Partnerships with development and community
support organisations
In terms of promoting the global dimension, the opportunity
is twofold: (1) Encouraging UK and international student
volunteering as a central part of an active global citizenship
programme and (2) Embedding volunteering within the
curriculum, recognising and accrediting the learning and
linking volunteering to design and practical course elements.
A few UK development agencies offer internships and volun-
teering opportunities for undergraduate students. This can
provide valuable work experience and understanding of
international development as well as supporting the work of
the NGOs. To date, this experience is largely extra-curricula
and not accredited within courses, although there is growing
interest in recognising and incorporating it within the
curriculum. For example, Heriot Watt University has teamed
up with Challenges Worldwide80 to incorporate international
volunteering within courses with 5th year return volunteer
students giving talks to 3rd students about their experiences,
an example of peer learning.
Further examples from Nottingham and Developing Tech-
nologies work at Imperial College show the advantages of
active staff support in identifying suitable ‘projects’ and over-
seas partners. Feedback from academics suggests
volunteering can be a life changing and rewarding
experience which is popular with students and motivates a
wider awareness of the world and their place within it. Engi-
neers Without Borders-UK recently won support from DFID
for a 3 year programme promoting research and UK and
overseas volunteering partnerships between engineering
departments and NGOs. As well as internships and research
projects, NGOs offer valuable experience and knowledge in
applying engineering in the developing countries and the
value of participatory methodologies in both development
and learning (e.g. ICA-UK and INTRAC). They can also be a
rich source of case studies and learning resources in global
development issues (e.g. Practical Action, VSO and RedR)
and guest lecturers. Partnerships with Diaspora and organ-
isations serving minority and disadvantaged communities
such as the Refugee Council offer student volunteering
opportunities and allow an insight into cross-cultural
working and empowering disadvantaged groups. The 1997
White Paper calls for DFID to “build on the skills and talents
of migrants and other members of ethnic minorities within
the UK to promote development...'' and Engaging
Diasporas produced by Oxfam UK explores this approach
further.81
The growth of commercial and not-for-profit international
volunteering agencies (see box) demonstrates the demand
Page 22 The Global Engineer
from young people to experience life and work overseas,
especially in developing countries. In its 2006 White Paper,
DFID committed to, “expand opportunities for young people
... to volunteer in developing countries”.. There is a wealth
of experience in international volunteering from organisa-
tions such as VSO and Skillshare International. Although the
majority of volunteering opportunities offered by VSO are
open to professionals with a minimum of 3 years
professional experience, there is renewed interest from DFID
in promoting youth and student volunteering.82 Overseas
student volunteering offers many benefits to volunteers
including developing problem-solving, team working and
project skills, developing awareness of the complexities and
challenges of working in the developing countries and the
importance of context to engineering projects and personal
development and awareness of other cultures. This is clearly
a potential growth area but the evidence suggests there is a
need for a careful regulation of this area and realistic
expectations of the benefits for the host community or
project are required.83 UK volunteers should work alongside
and be supervised by experienced local development
workers. Poorly conceived and managed projects will impact
negatively on the host community and the students’
learning.
Volunteering agencies
Architects for Aid
Co-Plan
Challenges Worldwide
Engineers Without Borders
i-to-i
Habitat for Humanity
Raleigh International
Shelter Centre
Skillshare International
VSO
Voluntary Design and Build
Volunteer Africa
Youth Action for Peace UK
SAFAD - Silsoe Aid for Appropriate Development
Partnerships with overseas campuses and
universities based in developing countries
International linkages can include visiting professorships,
collaboration on research projects, field trips, student and
staff exchanges and participating in international knowledge
consortia such as DFID’s Technology, Infrastructure and
Urban Planning Resource Centre.84 The internationalisation
of higher education has led to fierce competition between
universities to attract overseas students onto UK courses and
led to a growing number of partnerships with academics
and universities based in the developing countries.
Nottingham University, for example, has established
campuses in China and Malaysia. This raises important
questions on adapting the curricula to the changing student
demographic.
Extra-curricula learning
Informal learning events
At every university there is a wide range of extra-curricula
activities, societies, student groups, conferences, talks and
networks. Through these events opportunities arise to
promote cross-disciplinary learning and debate on global