Above: Limber with Village Earth founders Ed and Mimi Shinn as he receives his certificate of completion for the Participatory Practices for Sustainable Development (PPSD) course. Limber Gomez, a Shipibo leader and activist, recently visited Fort Collins, Colorado to attend the two-week PPSD training course at Colorado State University. This course was an extraordinary experience for Limber and all participants to share their experiences working with communities on all continents. This course helped to reaffirm Limber in the value of Shipibo culture as a guide for future development efforts. He realized that many people around the world are facing the same challenges and has decided to arrange for a delegation of Shipibo leaders to connect with parallel indigenous movements throughout Latin America because of the strength in unity across diverse cultures. Limber also participated in a number of speaking events to both the Fort Collins community and also at Colorado State University. He also spoke on the radio and made connections with the KRFC-FM radio community to support the Shipibo’s radio project initiative (see posting below). Limber returned home to the Ucayali to energize the newly formed Organization for the Defense and Development of the Indigenous Communities of the Peruvian Amazon (ODDPIAP) by offering workshops to ODDPIAP officials, community leaders, and university students in how to best engage communities in their struggles for self-determination. We would like to thank Limber for his courage to join Village Earth here in the US and to all the donors that made his fruitful visit possible!
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.
