Introduction to Community Development Course

 Introduction to Community Development is the first in a series of free online courses that will introduce you to the concept of community development, what you need to do to get a community group started and how to organise a community group to take action. Using community health as a springboard for understanding community development, you will learn about the values, concepts and practices commonly found in the community development sector. You will learn how to define the community and its characteristics, and identify an issue to be actioned within the community. You will look at the various roles within a community group and the strategies it can use to further its objectives. You will learn about creating a team that can identify issues within the community group, from ensuring inclusive participation to dealing with conflict within the group. You will also learn about the practical aspects of governance, liability and structure of the community group. You will learn about tools that can be used to analyse the community, such as community asset mapping and the community characteristic checklist. You will also get an overview of the types of collaboration that may be possible with other organisations found in the community development sector. This course will be of great interest to professionals or volunteers working in community development and with community organisations. It will also be of interest to learners who would like to know more about community development and its role in changing and improving local communities.