What is Development Studies? "The European Association for Development Research and Training Institutes (EADI) is the leading professional network for development and regional studies in Europe. Our membership includes a wide range of development research and training organisations, think tanks, national bodies and researchers throughout Europe." (quote from the EADI website) According to EADI the definition and goals of development studies are: Development Studies is a multi- and inter-disciplinary field of study (i.e. not a discipline) that seeks to understand social, econiomic, political, technological and cultural aspects of societal change, particularly in developing countries. It is characterized also by normative and policy concerns. It aims at contributing to possible solutions to societal problems that development or its absence may produce. In pursuit of these objectives, Development Studies is context sensitive. It examines societal changes within a historical, comparative and global perspective. It aims to take into account the specificity of different societies in terms of history, ecology, culture, technology etc. and how these differences both can and often should translate into varied 'local' responses to regional or global processes, and varied strategies of development and methods. Development Studies is a changing and evolving field of study, at present covering topics and concerns such as poverty, environmental and socio-political sustainability; women's empowerment and gender equality, globalization, sustainable development and human development. The range of topics it covers is, however, by no means fixed as witnessed by the evolution of the focus of the field of study over the last decades, and the emergence of new topics such as development issues and poverty in the industrialized countries.