ST. LOUIS — The Community Development Academy is a series of three intensive, experiential, five-day courses offered by the University of Missouri Extension Community Development Program. Combining leading edge thinking with practical applications, we enhance the capacity of people to work effectively with a broad range of community issues. Course participants learn how to deal collectively with their issues of concern and give purposeful direction to their own futures. Course One – Building Communities from the Grassroots and Course Two – Empowering Communities for the Future, will both be offered in St. Louis from March 23-27, 2020. Registration is open now at http://www.cvent.com/d/jhqzdr.
CDA Course One: “Building Community from the Grassroots” includes:
- Community-based development principles and concepts
- Complexity and polarization of communities
- Group process, group dynamics, team building
- Dealing with differences
- Accurately assessing the community
- Practicing community inclusion
- The action planning process
- Evaluation and monitoring
- Developing community indicators and measuring impact
- Developing local leadership
CDA Course Two: “Empowering Communities for the Future” includes:
- Keys to sustaining the future of communities
- Grounding development in community
- Understanding the local economy and economic development
- Role of local government in the local economy
- Participatory action research
- Discrimination and community development programming
- Working together: networks, partnerships, coalitions and collaborations
- Building effective community organizations
- Governance and civil society The environment and sustaining the future of communities
CDA Course Three: “Creating Capacity for Dynamic Communities” includes:
- Change, ethics and sustainability
- Preparing communities for effective organizing
- Small group processes
- Whole systems processes for development and change
- Community conflict intervention
- Community development in perspective
- Citizen power, influence, authority, and participation
Through this dynamic, results-oriented curriculum, learn how to:
- Use the tools needed to sustain communities
- Focus on capacities of communities/neighborhoods\Promote responsibility and involvement of the entire community
- Develop a holistic community focus
- Harness the community’s expertise to determine needs, vision and actions
— University of Missouri
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