The idea of Development in the Journey of Becoming a Development Professional

Development has been an integral part of human history since the human history began. It is a pursuit for humans that they continue to relentlessly engage in. However, development in itself has evolved through the ages and its meaning has diverged. Development is not a static phase and will be an ever evolving phenomenon, even the developed nation are still striving for perfection and achieve more. Starting from biological development to economic development every aspect holds a position of importance in social framework of the society and it is important to understand what it means for each individual and the society at large and how can one propagate the true idea of development. As an individual it would be enriching for me to indulge in this journey and make a pathway that would help me to understand it as a Development Professional.

The Cambridge Dictionary defines ‘development’ as “the process in which someone or something grows or changes and becomes more advanced”; but nowadays it is being defined as in terms of GDP rate of nation state which is leading to the depletion of resources due to the race to reach the growth rate at a faster pace. J. Foster (2008) in The Sustainability Mirage, argued that the obsession of the Western culture with the notion of progress is being perpetuated by the economic-growth focussed mindset of sustainable development. If this scenario continues then we will soon see the patterns of eventual collapse as was displayed by the previous civilization of the Mayans, ancient Rome or Easter Islands, etc. and this time the cost might be too high for the earth’s ability to support human life again. The dualistic separation between nature and culture is encompassing the persistent consumerist and materialistic code of operation in the world. Development is not unidirectional and cannot be seen in isolation and hence needs to adopt a holistic approach through the amalgamation of all the aspects that co-exists. Focus on only the economical aspect will only tether the social fabric and will eventually crackdown the affectivity of human life.

A holistic development is definitely possible but not with the dominant economical outlook. Humanity is going through a worldwide change of unprecedented magnitude. The regeneration of the planet can only be designed through fundamental co-dependence of nature and culture at local and global level. The world is coming together through various initiatives, the most prominent one being the Sustainable Development Goal laid down by the United Nations. Now, it is easy to be sceptical with United Nations after what happened with Millennium Development Goal. Though, one can find some ray of hope. The Millennium Development Goals did intend to bring down the global poverty percentage to 18% from 36% which was set as the baseline from 1990 by 2015. It not only achieved it but exceeded it and the global poverty percentage touched 12% (approximately) in 2015. Michael Green (2015) in his TED Talk on How We Can Make the World a Better Place by 2030, talks about Social Progress Index and how it can prevent us from being a slave to GDP. The Social Progress Index includes indicators that are Basic Human Need, Foundations of Well-Being and Opportunity which further includes sub-indicators of Nutrition and Basic Medical Care, Water and Sanitation, Shelter, Personal Safety, Access to?Basic Knowledge, Access to Information and Communication, Health and Wellness, Ecosystem Sustainability, Personal Right, Personal Freedom and Choice, Tolerance and Inclusion, Access to Advanced Education (Green, 2015). Together these indicators define the holistic structure that is needed to create a realm for transdisciplinary co-existence of nature and human culture leading to an advanced state. Michael Green stated that countries like Russia, China and India who are prominent in the race for higher GDP are doing poorly as far as basic social and environmental issues, human rights, sanitation, etc. are concerned. He then juxtaposes this scenario with countries like Costa Rica and New Zealand, who have been focusing more on the social development of their country using similar indicator are socially more stable with higher degree of human rights being promoted, better environmental and social conditions. Such countries are not in the rat race of higher GDP growth and are more focused on providing a holistically improved living condition co-existing with nature. The same can be said to be true for Scandinavian countries who focused on health and education after the second world war in comparison to countries like India or China and started developing the social condition and framework of their respective societies with stronger fundamental values like inclusion and access for healthier social foundations which believes in co-existing and sustaining the well-being of humans and the planet.

The Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) have been consciously created with the intent to coexist and ensure that the planet continues its ability to sustain humanity by bringing the focus on environmental, economic and social concerns and move towards sustainable prosperity. The SDGs are designed with three primary pillars namely ‘Ending Poverty’, ‘Social Inclusion’ and ‘Environment’. The sustainable development oxymoron: quantifying and modelling the incompatibility of sustainable development goals states that economic growth fulfills socio-economic goals while simultaneously hindering environment goals. With 242 indicators it is critical for all the nations to ensure that the implementations of the objectives are carried out seamlessly in alignment with the indicators. However, one would find a hint of inconsistency as the goals are non-binding, with each country being expected to design respective national and regional plans to achieve the goals (Spaiser, Ranganathan, Swain, & Sumpter, 2017). With India being the only country out of all the United Nation countries which has managed to create a design plan of some indicators through Niti Ayog, there is still a long way to go for the world to fulfill these goals. Also, one would find stark conflicts among the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs). As the goals suggest, the developed nations need to focus on environmental and social doctrines, however, the developing countries would have to channelize their resources on economic policies, to be at par with the developed nations, though the environmental objectives are significant for sustainable development.

Hence, it is of utmost importance to start seeing development not only in economic perspective but social perspective as well. Gandhi has stated development should be viewed with a broader perspective to mean total development of society?(Tisdell & Roy, 1992). It is here, that we must consider the role of Development Professional. As an individual aspiring to be a Development Professional I hold it of utmost importance to understand this journey of becoming one to ensure the sustainability of this world is not swept aside to achieve development and how development can be viewed in a holistic manner.

Being a Development Professional would require the inculcation of meta-skills to engage with the problems with functional expertise more effectively. One would have to understand, research and imbibe local knowledge through owning the real life experiences. It becomes a life long journey of reflective practice which is critical for imagining the future which in itself an ever evolving one. It will be a realm where the Development Professional would have be learn, think, repeat actions based on previous learning experiences to design a shared vision for a better world. Adaptability will be key here for an individual aspiring to be a Development Professional and use the meta skills to see beyond the obvious.

For this one needs to be self aware. It is not only seeing clearly what one is doing, but also how we are viewed by others. Self awareness actually embeds authenticity and integrity as true self acceptance drives self esteem and further alleviates conflicts with others. Acceptance shifts our focus from what should be done to what has happened in the present and encourages us to be more empathetic. Thus driving one to welcome diversity and co-exist for holistic improvement. This widens the degree of viewing hurdles as failures and one would be up for endless positive experiments.

It is here that a Development Professional starts building resilience to raise above adversity and stay in control of the situation by learning from the lesson at work and not vice-versa. It is our grit that shapes our perceptions and behaviour which eventually moulds our actions towards a particular situation.

The present world is hanging by a thin thread and it is the action of the current generation that would determine the future of humanity. Humanity has never been in dire need of Development Professionals as much as it is now. We are at the threshold where we need to redefine development for ourselves and create an inclusive definition for sustainability which would encompass all the planetary entities surrounding us and beyond. Hence, it is these notions that strengthen my commitment towards being a Development Professional and collaborate with other such professionals to reimagine, redesign and rethink the world that we have so that we can co-create one to pass on to the future generations of humanity.