Although activity is slower than it once was, anyone is welcome to participate in the project.
Remove the |Semi-active parameter from this template if activity resumes or if this tag was changed in error. If almost no activity occurs in this WikiProject, consider replacing this tag with {{
WikiProject status|Inactive}}.
This
project contains suggestions and tools for improving articles related to
international development. It is hoped that this project will help to focus the efforts of Wikipedians, and people new to editing Wikipedia. If you would like to help, either jump right in (see
Jumping off points, below - but don't forget to come back and visit here), browse this page, or check the
talk page.
If you're interested in this area, please consider joining,
below.
Scope
The vision is to develop a comprehensive, detailed, and accessible guide to
International development, covering technical, economic and social issues.
The ultimate goal is to have a powerful, practical and empowering resource which people everywhere can use to improve their own lives. Other people can also improve their understanding, whether they are involved in aid and development, or in politics, or in the broader public, thus raising awareness and understanding of the issues.
Through Wikipedia's inter-language work, this resource can be translated into other languages, greatly increasing the reach.
...and it will benefit you, too:
You learn as you research and edit.
You get the satisfaction of contributing to international development, even if you're unable to go into the field.
If you do work in the field, you'll have a better toolbox of ideas.
Politically active people. Many people across the political landscape are concerned about these issues. And they often have email lists or newsletters that you can post a brief notice on.
Inside Wikipedia: Paste {{WikiProject International development}} on relevant talk pages. If a topic is only marginally related, then just put a note, telling people about it. (Use [[Wikipedia:WikiProject International development]] to link to the project page.
New to Wikipedia?
You might want to check this
introduction (simple) or
How to edit a page (more detailed). Or just click the edit tab at the top of the page you want to edit and figure it out as you go.
no original research. If you have unpublished research, writeups of projects or small groups, personal experience or ideas that you want to share, then please check out
Appropedia. (Appropedia is open to anything related to sustainability development, includig appropriate technology, but any other subject as well.)
No user on Wikipedia 'owns' any of its pages. Your assistance in improving a page is always welcome.
To check the latest changes to all articles in a category, view the category and use the "Related changes" link. Or you can link it from your userpage, by adding Special:Recentchangeslinked/ to the wikilink - e.g.
Special:Recentchangeslinked/Category:Appropriate technology.
Structure
There is no special format that has to be followed (apart from general Wikipedia guidelines - if you're not sure, then just do your best).
For articles about specific appropriate technologies, there should be information on:
History (or background)
Usage
Operation
Effectiveness
Advantages and disadvantages
Cost
How to build or where to buy (detailed instructions might be found via a link to another site, especially if they are very long).
Projects
This section is for organizing group projects. Some WikiProjects have a
Collaboration of the week. You are free to suggest that here, although remember that some prefer to work at their own pace - everything on Wikipedia is a collaboration, anyway.
An alternative is to "adopt" an article, meaning that you personally focus on improving a particular article. Of course, others can still edit it, too.
An infobox on
Wikipedia is a consistently-formatted table which is present in articles with a common subject. See
Wikipedia:List of infoboxes. There are currently no infoboxes on International development.
Navbox?
Priority: Low or Medium
The International Red Cross and Red Crescent Movement now has a navbox for all of its related organisations:
This article is within the scope of WikiProject International development, a collaborative effort to improve the coverage of
international development, including such areas as
appropriate technology,
microfinance and
social issues, on Wikipedia. If you would like to participate, please visit the project page, where you can join
the discussion and see a list of open tasks.International developmentWikipedia:WikiProject International developmentTemplate:WikiProject International developmentInternational development articles
Appropriate technology - especially Some appropriate technologies section. It could be filled out by reference to
Category:Appropriate technology. At a later stage it could also be rewritten as a paragraph on each area (e.g. a paragraph on water supply, a paragraph on energy...) --
Chriswaterguy 04:53, 1 May 2006 (UTC)reply
Development aid/
Foreign aid articles are all a mess. They need to be properly merged or at least cleaned up, and criticisms of foreign/developmental aid should be expanded on.
Please feel free to list your new International development-related articles here (newer articles at the top, please). Listing the articles often gets other editors to help improve and expand a new article.
Public participation - I started this article and it has a section on Participatory Development, which really deserves its own main article (see section for inspiration)
Any new articles that have an interesting or unusual fact in them should be suggested for the
Did you know? box on the
Main Wikipedia page. DYN has a 72 hr. time limit from the creation of the article.
Translation
Translation can be done on any article, but it's probably most efficient to do it when articles have reached a certain level of quality and stability (to save constant updates of the translation).
Showing sources
The English Wikipedia article should be shown as the source for the article in the target language (and perhaps a mention that the sources for that are in English - at least then people know where the information is from, and have an idea of what's involved in tracking down the sources - and if they do have some understanding of English, knowing where to find the sources makes it much easier than having to do all the research themselves). If there are equivalent links in the target language, all the better.
Search engines: more specific and scholarly search engines are available:
Appropedia:Public Domain Search - finds mostly public domain content. Once confirmed as public domain, it can be used freely in Appropedia. This searches many US federal government sites, some of which have extensive content about development and sustainability.
Eldis - the "gateway to development information" - a searchable database of summaries of reports and links to full reports, articles, etc., on development which are available freely on the internet. This has sections on each sub-theme (education, health, gender, etc.).
PubMed (more than just Medline, covers many things that impact on public health, such as water issues.
Google Scholar A bit hit and miss - some very useful stuff, but also some very obscure, esoteric stuff. Sometimes it's only the title, sometimes it's an abstract, but they can suggest further directions for research.
If you're looking for general info that might inspire a new article, these sites are worth a look:
Technical (appropriate technology) sites
Practical Action (formerly ITDG) A vast resource of appropriate technology including research, technical briefs, strategies and more covering almost every area of international development. They also have a physical library in
Rugby, Warwickshire,
United Kingdom.
If you're running out of ideas, then search blogs. Obviously the blog itself doesn't qualify as a source for an article, but it can give links and inspire research.
Appropedia A wiki focused on sustainability, poverty reduction and appropriate technology, for content that is not "encyclopedic".
If you want to participate in this project... you don't have to add your name or put the userbox on your userpage, but it would cool if you did. If you're not registered, then register first - that makes it much easier to discuss articles, ask questions about edits etc. Just add yourself to the list below and add this template {{
User WikiProject IntDev}} to your userpage. If you don't like userboxes, then just add [[Category:WikiProject International development participants]] to your user page.
gamblingbear - general issues in
international development, particularly interested in discussions of power inequalities, discourse analysis, microfinance, China-Africa relations, discussions of hegemony, October 2007
wanderingatlarge - I'm interested in improving
poverty, my work deals with issues of political development and governance in Indonesia, Papua New Guinea, and Pacific Island Countries
JohnShandy` •
talk 04:24, 30 July 2012 (UTC) - Heavy interests in
development economics, related issues such as water, sanitation, epidemiological issues, other aspects of extreme poverty,
microfinance, development banks and international financial institutions, science education, international finance, trade finance, etc.reply
Mjs15- Student at Rice University, interested in health policy and development.
Allisonshields (
talk) 04:59, 3 October 2012 (UTC) Student at Rice University; Interested in specific fair trade commodities and how fair trade promotes fair labor practices and sustainabilityreply
Discott, I did my master's degree in International Development so I suppose I should sign up for this. A good project for me to get involved in. Located in Cape Town, South Africa. Focus of my masters course was on Chinese economic development policy and I did my thesis on the efficiency of
Overseas Development Assistance.--
Discott (
talk) 10:41, 26 January 2015 (UTC)reply
RemembertoForget I have an MA in International Development from the
Josef Korbel School of International Studies at the
University of Denver in 2008 and am working on my dissertation to receive a PhD in Political Science (Majoring in comparative politics and minoring in international relations and agricultural economics) which I should complete in 2018.
Sixdown I have an MSc in International Development from the
University of Birmingham in the UK with specialisation in governance.
BlueD954 I have deep passion for international developmment.
I'm keen to meet people with similar interests, in Meetups, one-on-one, or visiting projects. Currently in Central America (San Salvador, and in coming weeks in Nicaragua, Guatemala and then Mexico. Then California for a few weeks, and then returning to Taiwan, where I'll be staying for some months, and probably using as a base.
I'm a water & sanitation engineer with a strong interest in appropriate technology and sustainable solutions (and am co-founder of
Appropedia) and would be glad to help when I'm able. --
Chriswaterguyupdated 19:16, 8 March 2009 (UTC)reply
Aid Workers Network - "Practical Advice for aid workers, by Aid Workers". A knowledge sharing initiative - works by using a discussion forum, newsletters and distilled advice pages. Drupal based.
Appropedia (wiki site) "a living library of appropriate technology." Also deals with broader development and sustainability issues, and is suitable for material which
does not belong on Wikipedia, for material which is not suitable for Wikipedia (e.g. how-tos and project write-ups).
Nabuur.com - "The global neighbour network." Helping specific villages, rather than building an information resource.