This online certificate program is designed for people who currently work in community development and desire to advance their careers as well as those who plan to work or volunteer in this field. You will be equipped with practical tools to meet today’s challenges as project directors, community leaders, grassroots activists, funders, and field workers in community-based organizations and governmental and nongovernmental organizations. With a wide variety of electives, you can tailor the program to meet your needs and interests.
This highly flexible certificate program is offered online through a partnership between Village Earth, a leader in sustainable community development education, and Colorado State University. Your instructors are seasoned professionals who are practitioners in their fields. They use a multi-sector, participatory approach to learning. Rather than teaching prescriptive solutions to community problems, you learn how to use the community’s input and vision to create options and solutions that truly meet community needs.
To earn a certificate in sustainable community development, you must complete the one required course “Approaches to Community Development” and any elective courses of your choosing. Each course runs five weeks and requires a minimum of 20 hours of student participation. You may take courses in any order. Each course costs $390.
This online certificate program uses a multi-sector, participatory approach that focuses on empowerment of people as both the ends and means of a sustainable development process. Rather than teaching prescriptive solutions to community problems, we provide you with the tools to use the community’s input and vision to create options and solutions that truly meet community needs.
The courses use the flexibility of online delivery to help you learn through case studies, exercises, and group discussions, providing a complete learning environment. You will learn from, and share experiences with, practitioners working in the field all over the world. These courses give experienced practitioners a fresh perspective and provide novices and volunteers the training they need to be successful working in the field of development.
Course Format
All Village Earth online courses are organized in a seminar format with weekly readings, presentations and assignments along with discussion among participants. While participants are not required to access the courses at specific times it will be necessary to access the course at least two or more times each week to download assignments, post reactions, and give feedback to other course participants.
Materials
All content and readings required for Village Earth courses will be downloadable from within the online course or linked to from the course. Participants will not be required to purchase any additional materials.
Grading
All Village Earth online courses are non-credit but are graded on a Pass/Fail basis. The criteria for passing or failing will be determined by each instructor and should be clearly explained in the course syllabus or course description. Following the completion of each course, students will be e-mailed a letter indicating their grade which should be retained for your records.
To be awarded the Certificate in Sustainable Community Development students must pass the required course, Approaches to Community-Based Development along with three (3) other elective courses in the program.
This online certificate program is designed for people who plan to work or volunteer in community development, humanitarian assistance or who already work in this field and want to advance their careers. You will be prepared with practical tools to meet today’s challenges as project directors, community leaders, grassroots activists, funders, and field workers in community-based organizations and governmental and nongovernmental organizations. With a wide variety of electives, you are able to tailor the program to meet your needs and interests.
Each online course offered by Village Earth is worth two (2) Continuing Education Units (CEU’s) from Colorado State University. A CEU is a unit of credit equal to ten hours of participation in an accredited program designed for professionals with certificates or licenses to practice various professions.
