Village Earth (originally through an entity called the International Institute for Sustainable Development), in collaboration with Colorado State University, was one of the first non-governmental organizations to really pioneer online training in the development and humanitarian sectors back in 2003. Now ten years later, Village Earth’s online Sustainable Community Development Certificate program is one of the premier training programs for development and relief professionals. Many organizations have sent groups of their staff (“training of trainers”) or program participants through the certificate program such as World Learning, IREX, Academy for Educational Development, Habitat for Humanity, and many more.
“For 26 years, I had worked with an international NGO assigned in several countries but I must admit that despite these years of doing development work, it is only now that I have a deeper understanding of what community-based development should be..” — Course Participant
Over the ten years our program has evolved and adapted to the changing development landscape to incorporate not only best practices in online training, but also to stay on top of best practices in the field of sustainable community development. Our courses have always been taught by practitioners in the field who bring with them not only immense academic knowledge but also the wealth of real world, on-the-ground knowledge that only someone with experience in the field could bring. Our program has grown to now offer twenty-three courses as a part of the online certificate. Recently, we have also begun to offer specializations for those looking to focus in on a particular subject area such as Economic Development, Natural Resources Management, Political Empowerment, Disaster Relief, Food Security / Agriculture, Participatory Facilitation, and Community Planning and Development. Although more and more development training programs are coming online, Village Earth’s Sustainable Community Development Certificate stands out above the competition. Unlike other online course programs that just post information online for student’s to read, our courses are facilitated, interactive, and encourage dialogue amongst our diverse participant body giving the opportunity for development professionals to learn from, discuss and network with other professionals from all over the globe. To date, we have had participants come through our program from IGOs such as the United Nations to grassroots community leaders in the most remote corners of the world. You can see our list of 83 countries from which we have had participants: 1. Afghanistan 2. Albania 3. Armenia 4. Australia 5. Austria 6. Bangladesh 7. Belgium 8. Benin 9. Bosnia-Herzegovina 10. Brazil 11. Bulgaria 12. Burma (Myanmar) 13. Burundi 14. Cambodia 15. Cameroon 16. Canada 17. Chad 18. Colombia 19. Congo 20. Denmark 21. East Timor 22. Ecuador 23. Egypt 24. Ethiopia 25. Finland 26. France 27. Germany 28. Haiti 29. Honduras 30. India 31. Indonesia 32. Ireland 33. Israel 34. Italy 35. Jamaica 36. Japan 37. Jordan 38. Kenya 39. Kiribati 40. Korea 41. Kosovo 42. Kyrgyzstan 43. Laos 44. Lebanon 45. Lesotho 46. Liberia 47. Luxembourg 48. Madagascar 49. Malta 50. Mauritania 51. Mexico 52. Mongolia 53. Mozambique 54. Namibia 55. Nepal 56. Netherlands 57. New Zealand 58. Nigeria 59. Norway 60. Papua New Guinea 61. Pakistan 62. Philippines 63. Qatar 64. Russia 65. Serbia 66. Sierra Leone 67. Singapore 68. Slovakia 69. South Africa 70. Spain 71. Sudan 72. Sweden 73. Switzerland 74. Syria 75. Tanzania 76. Thailand 77. Trinidad and Tobago 78. United Arab Emirates 79. United Kingdom 80. United States 81. Vanuatu 82. Vietnam 83. Zambia
