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Village Earth

Lakota Leaders Receive Training in Participatory Practices at CSU’s International Insitute for Sustainable Development

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Lakota Leaders Receive Training in Participatory Practices at CSU’s International Insitute for Sustainable Development

Calvin White Butterfly, director of the Wounded Knee Tiospaye project, and Gayle Kocer, Director of Badlands RC&D;, recently graduated from a two week intensive training in “Participatory Practices for Sustainable Development.” This training is sponsored by Colorado State University’s “International Institute for Sustainable Development,” a sister organization and training arm of Village Earth. Village Earth provided scholarships to Calvin and Gayle to help advance our collaboration on the Pine Ridge Reservation. (Above: Calvin White Butterfly explaining community-defined boundaries during a mapping exercise) (Above: Participants in the training came from all corners of the globe including India, Pakistan, China, United States, and the Pine Ridge Reservation). Some of the topics covered in this course are comparison of development approaches, basic features of sustainable development, designing a development project, the Village Earth model, community empowerment and mobilization, bottom-up oriented organizational structures, creating resource access structures, identifying and overcoming obstacles to sustainability, selecting appropriate resources, and establishing economic self-sufficiency. To learn more about this training please visit the IISD website at: http://www.colostate.edu/Orgs/IISD/index.htm

Upcoming Courses in the Village Earth/CSU Online Certificate Program in Community-Based Development

Winter I Session

GSLL 1501 – Approaches to Community Development

This course provides a framework for community development based on a participatory, bottom-up, multi-sector model. Various approaches have been used in community development with varying degrees of success. One approach that has consistently demonstrated effectiveness is the Village Earth model based on participatory practices.

Through personal and structural empowerment, the objectives of economic well-being, environmental sustainability, and socio-cultural vitalization can be met. By looking at an overview of the entire development process and using case studies, this course will prepare participants to work in the field of community development and illuminate how all of the development efforts fit together to support the overall goal of sustainability.

Upon completion of this course participants will be able to:

Compare different development approaches and evaluate their effectiveness.
Understand the basic principles that underlie sustainable development.
Incorporate participatory practices into community development activities
Design a development project based on the Village Earth model
Who should take this course? This course is suited for people who are interested in community development and work or plan to work in this field. This includes people working or volunteering at NGOs, NPOs, governmental organizations, without border organizations, or missionary organizations. In addition, people involved in funding community development projects benefit from this course.

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Fall I Session

GSLL 1518 – Community-Based Food Systems

During this five week course, you will learn about various approaches to building community-based food systems and movements for food justice around the world. Together, we will evaluate successful efforts at food system relocalization and the protection of community food resources, as well as the factors that threaten these efforts.

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