Innovation as a Driver of Change in the

This course is the first in a two-course sequence on innovation for development in practice. It will focus on institutional reforms and how to leverage innovation to help drive organisational change within international development organisations. The second course will focus on innovation in low and middle-income countries, including the role of innovation in fostering inclusive growth, in efforts to advance locally led development principles and in fostering inclusive innovation ecosystems, among other themes. 

The second course builds on the foundations of this course. However, each course stands on its own, and students are welcome to enrol in either course (if they don’t have space in their schedule for both courses).

In this course, students will learn how to frame innovation in the context of development cooperation and practical ways to advance change management within international organizations and government entities.  

The course is designed to help students gain a critical conceptual understanding of the practice of innovation in the development cooperation context, obtain skills in change management, and learn the practical application of advancing innovation portfolio management within international development organisations as well as a framework to support organisations build critical capabilities related to innovation and emerging technologies. Students will be exposed to a variety of frameworks, along with case studies and practical exercises. Students will gain an understanding of advancing innovation in development organisations in practice.

Students will explore the relationship between innovation practices and management practices that emerged over the last decade to infuse more flexible and adaptive practices. These include ‘working and thinking politically’, ‘adaptive management’, ‘doing development differently’ and others. These approaches intersect at times with innovation efforts in development organizations. 

Case studies drawn from a variety of organizations and countries will anchor frameworks and theoretical content and help provide a greater understanding of the complexities and challenges of advancing development impact and changing business as usual within development organizations.