# Global Development Institute Blog
**Source**: https://blog.gdi.manchester.ac.uk/
**Parent**: https://www.gdi.manchester.ac.uk/study/taught-masters/
## [Global Development Institute Blog](https://blog.gdi.manchester.ac.uk/about/)
We’re the Global Development Institute at The University of Manchester: where critical thinking meets social justice.
[Find out more](https://blog.gdi.manchester.ac.uk/about/)
## [Paul Mosley (05 April 1947 – 18 February 2026) – An Appreciation](https://blog.gdi.manchester.ac.uk/paul-mosley-05-april-1947-18-february-2026-an-appreciation/)
by | Mar 6, 2026 | [Uncategorized](https://blog.gdi.manchester.ac.uk/category/uncategorized/) | 0 Comments
*It is with great sadness that we report the death of Professor Paul Mosley, Director of the Institute for Development Policy and Management (IDPM), University of Manchester, from 1986 to 1992. Professor David Hulme, who worked closely with Paul, reflects on his immense contribution to Development Studies.*
[read more…](https://blog.gdi.manchester.ac.uk/paul-mosley-05-april-1947-18-february-2026-an-appreciation/#more-8986)
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## [GDI Digest: Forget the hype – how is AI really changing the world?](https://blog.gdi.manchester.ac.uk/gdi-digest-forget-the-hype-how-is-ai-really-changing-the-world/)
by | Mar 5, 2026 | [Comment](https://blog.gdi.manchester.ac.uk/category/comment/) | 0 Comments
***by Louisa Hann***
If today’s Silicon Valley billionaires are to be believed, AI is about to supercharge your quality of life, boost your productivity, and provide access to “[wildly abundant](https://blog.samaltman.com/the-gentle-singularity)” intelligence. As Sam Altman, CEO of OpenAI [puts it](https://blog.samaltman.com/the-gentle-singularity), the future “can be vastly better than the present”, with the world “getting so much richer so quickly that we’ll be able to seriously entertain new policy ideas we never could before”.
[read more…](https://blog.gdi.manchester.ac.uk/gdi-digest-forget-the-hype-how-is-ai-really-changing-the-world/#more-8978)
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## [Empowering Human Potential: Rethinking Employability in the New Collar Era](https://blog.gdi.manchester.ac.uk/empowering-human-potential-rethinking-employability-in-the-new-collar-era/)
by | Feb 27, 2026 | [Comment](https://blog.gdi.manchester.ac.uk/category/comment/) | 0 Comments
**By Lujia Feng, Programme Director: MSc Human Resource Management (International Development)**
[read more…](https://blog.gdi.manchester.ac.uk/empowering-human-potential-rethinking-employability-in-the-new-collar-era/#more-8970)
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## [Call for Workshop Contributions: Resilient Amazon Futures: Strengthening Food, Water, Forest, and Land Governance for Sustainable Development](https://blog.gdi.manchester.ac.uk/call-for-workshop-contributions-resilient-amazon-futures-strengthening-food-water-forest-and-land-governance-for-sustainable-development/)
by | Feb 16, 2026 | [Comment](https://blog.gdi.manchester.ac.uk/category/comment/) | 0 Comments
**Workshop Title: Resilient Amazon Futures: Strengthening Food, Water, Forest, and Land Governance for Sustainable Development**
UK Principal Instructor: José A. Puppim de Oliveira, University of Manchester
Brazil Principal Instructor: Claudio Szlafsztein, Federal University of Pará (UFPA)
Mentors: Maria Julia Ferreira, National Institute of Amazon Research (INPA); Aarti Krishnan, University of Manchester (UoM); João Campos-Silva, Instituto Juruá; John James Loomis, University of Manchester (UoM)
Discipline: Business Studies
**Dates and** **place: 25–29 May 2026, Belem, Brazil**
**Venue: Federal University of Pará (UFPA)**
**Deadline for application submission: 31 March 2026 to the email:** [**resilientamazonfutures@gmail.com**](mailto:resilientamazonfutures@gmail.com)
[read more…](https://blog.gdi.manchester.ac.uk/call-for-workshop-contributions-resilient-amazon-futures-strengthening-food-water-forest-and-land-governance-for-sustainable-development/#more-8956)
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## [Looking for the AI in inclusive AI](https://blog.gdi.manchester.ac.uk/looking-for-the-ai-in-inclusive-ai/)
by | Feb 12, 2026 | [Comment](https://blog.gdi.manchester.ac.uk/category/comment/) | 0 Comments
**by [Anuradha Ganapathy](https://research.manchester.ac.uk/en/persons/anuradha-ganapathy/), PhD Researcher at the Global Development Institute**
Can you write about AI without ever once referring to it?
These were my first thoughts when I came back from the field, learning from and with communities in rural India who were experimenting with a new AI tool. Built on geospatial data and machine learning algorithms, the tool provided data on socio-ecological indicators such as water stress, forest health, soil type, flora fauna biodiversity, etc., to enable communities to develop a shared understanding of their landscape.
[read more…](https://blog.gdi.manchester.ac.uk/looking-for-the-ai-in-inclusive-ai/#more-8947)
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## [What an Urban Lens Can Tell Us About Venezuela](https://blog.gdi.manchester.ac.uk/what-an-urban-lens-can-tell-us-about-venezuela/)
by | Feb 10, 2026 | [Comment](https://blog.gdi.manchester.ac.uk/category/comment/) | 0 Comments
**by [Dr Erika Garcia Fermin](https://research.manchester.ac.uk/en/persons/erika-garcia-fermin/#:~:text=Overview,based%20financing%2C%20and%20spatial%20justice.), Honorary Research Fellow at the Global Development Institute**
Last week I had a really energising conversation with Tom Goodfellow and Beth Perry on *[Urban Radar](https://player.sheffield.ac.uk/series/urban-radar)*, a podcast by Sheffield Urbanism that discuss current events through the lens of cities and urban life. This time, we talked about Venezuela, and about my city, Caracas. The conversation stayed with me after we wrapped up, so here I am thinking through some of what we discussed, and to clarify a few points that, in hindsight, I’d like to have expressed more clearly.
[read more…](https://blog.gdi.manchester.ac.uk/what-an-urban-lens-can-tell-us-about-venezuela/#more-8940)
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## [Communities of Practice: How are different kinds of resilience connected?](https://blog.gdi.manchester.ac.uk/communities-of-practice-how-are-different-kinds-of-resilience-connected/)
by | Feb 6, 2026 | [Comment](https://blog.gdi.manchester.ac.uk/category/comment/) | 0 Comments
On **Tuesday, 27th January**, we held our final community of practice in a series exploring the role of resilience in maintaining a thriving and impactful development sector. Over the past few months, we’ve been bringing together development practitioners, academics, and students to talk through the difficulties of operating within a development space often troubled by crisis, stagnation, and obstruction. From aid cuts to burnt out workers, there was much to discuss during our one-hour online sessions.
[read more…](https://blog.gdi.manchester.ac.uk/communities-of-practice-how-are-different-kinds-of-resilience-connected/#more-8936)
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## [Call for Papers: Services and the Global South: Structural Transformation, Inequality and Development](https://blog.gdi.manchester.ac.uk/call-for-papers-services-and-the-global-south-structural-transformation-inequality-and-development/)
by | Feb 4, 2026 | [Uncategorized](https://blog.gdi.manchester.ac.uk/category/uncategorized/) | 0 Comments
**Call for Workshop Papers**
Services have become the dominant source of employment and value added across most low‑ and middle‑income countries. Unlike the historical pattern of agriculture to manufacturing to services, the contemporary trajectory of many countries in the Global South involves a direct transition from agriculture into low‑productivity, often informal, services. At the same time, the prospects for export‑led industrialisation in MICs have weakened, prompting renewed interest in whether service‑led pathways can deliver inclusive, employment‑intensive, and productivity‑enhancing development.
[read more…](https://blog.gdi.manchester.ac.uk/call-for-papers-services-and-the-global-south-structural-transformation-inequality-and-development/#more-8932)
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## [What do GDI academics make of January 2026?](https://blog.gdi.manchester.ac.uk/what-do-gdi-academics-make-of-january-2026/)
by | Jan 30, 2026 | [Uncategorized](https://blog.gdi.manchester.ac.uk/category/uncategorized/) | 0 Comments
***by Louisa Hann***
As you’ve probably noticed, 2026 is off to an eventful start – and it’s not promising to slow down any time soon. Donald Trump [threatened to invade Greenland](https://www.theguardian.com/business/2026/jan/21/davos-2026-trump-greenland-rules-out-force-part-north-america), Mark Carney delivered a [speech](https://newrepublic.com/article/205813/mark-carney-trump-canada-economy) asserting the end of the rules-based international order at the World Economic Forum, and Iran witnessed renewed unrest and the [brutal killings of anti-regime protesters](https://www.theguardian.com/global-development/2026/jan/27/iran-protests-death-toll-disappeared-bodies-mass-burials-30000-dead). Meanwhile, the ever-present hum of climate breakdown grows louder, with 2025 topping the charts as [one of the hottest years on record](https://www.metoffice.gov.uk/about-us/news-and-media/media-centre/weather-and-climate-news/2026/2025-continues-series-of-worlds-three-warmest-years).
[read more…](https://blog.gdi.manchester.ac.uk/what-do-gdi-academics-make-of-january-2026/#more-8923)
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## [“Beyond Borders, Beyond Books” – Our Cape Town Field Trip Adventure](https://blog.gdi.manchester.ac.uk/beyond-borders-beyond-books-our-cape-town-field-trip-adventure/)
by | Jan 30, 2026 | [Comment](https://blog.gdi.manchester.ac.uk/category/comment/) | 0 Comments
**by Xinyi Zhang**
*Last year, students enrolled in GDI’s [MSc Human Resource Development (International Development)](https://www.manchester.ac.uk/study/masters/courses/list/07862/msc-human-resource-development-international-development/) enjoyed a field trip to Cape Town to learn more about putting human resource theories into practice. In this piece, student Xinyi Zhang reflects on lessons learned and demonstrates the vital ways in which field trips can enrich the student experience and equip graduates with the tools they need to hit the ground running after graduation.*
[read more…](https://blog.gdi.manchester.ac.uk/beyond-borders-beyond-books-our-cape-town-field-trip-adventure/#more-8830)
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#### Recent Posts
- [Paul Mosley (05 April 1947 – 18 February 2026) – An Appreciation](https://blog.gdi.manchester.ac.uk/paul-mosley-05-april-1947-18-february-2026-an-appreciation/)
- [GDI Digest: Forget the hype – how is AI really changing the world?](https://blog.gdi.manchester.ac.uk/gdi-digest-forget-the-hype-how-is-ai-really-changing-the-world/)
- [Empowering Human Potential: Rethinking Employability in the New Collar Era](https://blog.gdi.manchester.ac.uk/empowering-human-potential-rethinking-employability-in-the-new-collar-era/)
- [Call for Workshop Contributions: Resilient Amazon Futures: Strengthening Food, Water, Forest, and Land Governance for Sustainable Development](https://blog.gdi.manchester.ac.uk/call-for-workshop-contributions-resilient-amazon-futures-strengthening-food-water-forest-and-land-governance-for-sustainable-development/)
- [Looking for the AI in inclusive AI](https://blog.gdi.manchester.ac.uk/looking-for-the-ai-in-inclusive-ai/)
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