COMMUNITY DEVELOPMENT EDUCATION

Henson College at Dalhousie University in Halifax, Nova Scotia, has a unique certificate program in community development designed to increase the effectiveness of leadership in low income people's organizations. Low income people are often forced to move from neighbourhood to neighbourhood as a city develops and changes because they lack a voice in the planning process. As a result, communities are scattered and physical and human heritage is lost. The program is intended to build up the level of unity, organization and human infrastructure required to preserve and develop communities, thereby ensuring they do not have to be uprooted by the development process.

The central element of the project is its Advisory and Networking Committee, composed of certificate program graduates who meet monthly to share information, develop strategies and provide mutual support. The committee is a supportive "community of community workers" which seeks to overcome the confidence-destroying effects of living in poverty and to put in place efforts to counter the cyclical loss of leadership in grass-roots groups.

The project is specifically aimed at minorities, the elderly, single parents, the unemployed, youth, women and marginalized groups who face pervasive social problems which have remained largely unaddressed by established educational programs.

Outside financial support has been instrumental in allowing the project to survive and thrive and the recognition and legitimacy generated in this way has caused the program to be taken more seriously within the university.

Certificate Program in Community Development
Henson College at Dalhousie University
Halifax, NS B3H 3J5