From a development policy point of view, many advances have been achieved in numerous countries over the last decades. Real earnings have increased, infant mortality has been reduced, and primary school education advanced. Some countries have stepped up their efforts to achieve democratisation, with more or less success, depending on the country.
However, despite such progress, many countries continue to face poverty, high unemployment, and limited access to social services. Further challenges arise from global trends like climate change, the worldwide shortage of resources, the pace of globalisation, rapid population growth, and migration flows, particularly in developing countries, all of which hamper development efforts, or make them even impossible.
To meet these challenges, we need sustainable development strategies and innovative ideas. These require the support of government and the participation of local actors, so that the development of the entire country can be set in the right direction.
Aim of the case study
The case study provided new students with the opportunity to engage with challenging, complex, and global issues of sustainable development strategies based on the fictional country Rurbania. Students analysed the country-specific characteristics, the global economic context, and actors, developing ideas for sustainable development modelled on the case country to drive its development further.
Due to the introduction of the English track of the Assessment Year in September 2013 and the Freshers’ Week of that year being held in German and English for the first time, the topic of development strategies was developed for the Freshers’ Weeks in 2012 and 2013.