May 22 - June 1, 2012
Sept. 17 - Oct. 5, 2012
May 21, May 31, 2013
Sept. 23 - Oct. 11, 2013

Mobilizing Assets for Community-Driven Development

What you can expect

Building on our action research with international partners, this certificate will provide an opportunity for you to learn from successful communities about how to initiate and stimulate citizen-led development.  Through a combination of theory, practical tools and field work, this course will provide you with a concrete plan for shifting your organization’s focus from an emphasis on community needs and problems to one that understands and recognizes the assets, strengths and opportunities within the community.


Facilitators: Gord Cunningham, Alison Mathie and Brianne Peters

Personal benefits

  • Learn the theory, principles and tools behind asset-based approaches.
  • Understand how the behavior, attitudes, and culture of development institutions affect their capacity to facilitate citizen-led development.
  • Be introduced to innovative forms of member-based organizations as vehicles for sustainable community-led activity.
  • Acquire participatory monitoring and evaluation techniques.
  • Learn strategies for bringing citizen-led initiatives to scale through multi-stakeholder platforms and linking producers to markets. 

Organizational benefits

  • Strategies that will allow your organization to shift from a needs-based, problem-solving approach to one that uses the existing strengths and capacities of communities as the starting point for the design of your programs, policies and practices
  •  Gain credibility as a promoter of sustainable development activities at the community level
  • Models for service delivery that support citizen-led initiatives and programs  

Who is best suited for the program?

This program is designed for field officers, senior practitioners and policy-makers from NGOs, donors, universities and the private and public sectors working in domestic or international development.

Two-week spring certificate
You will be involved in issues-based seminars about asset-based approaches to community development, and their implications for development practice and policy. You will also be introduced to the basic tools of applying as asset-based approach at the community level.

Three-week fall certificate
In this longer program, you will be introduced to a wider range of tools and methods. These will help you recognize the strengths and capacities in all communities and help communities build on those strengths for community- or citizen-driven development. A field visit to a Canadian community will allow you to practice some of these tools.

 

 

 

Education