Course Details

When we assist a household to buy a home or rent an apartment, how much or how little do our community development organizations currently think about the quality of life in the place that household will be living? What are the possibilities for coordinating our own lines of business or the work of multiple partners toward improving things like safety, healthcare access, quality education, good jobs, and other quality of life issues? In this two-day course, participants will have a chance to step back from the day-to-day to think about their organization’s work, and the impact it has on “place” – the area residents live. Participants will learn about the principles of place-based comprehensive community development (CCD), its history and lessons learned, and a variety of approaches that organizations are taking right now. Practical skill-building includes:

• Assessing the legacy of inequitable policies from the past and present that affect your area of focus today.
• Thinking spatially about program delivery for greater impact.
• Considering how place-based CCD can work in rural or non-urban contexts.
• Comparing and contrasting models of place-based CCD.
• Identifying roles in a multi-partner CCD approach.
• Obtaining a common language to talk about place-based CCD within your organization.

On Day 2, we’ll visit a local organization implementing a place-based CCD strategy and learn about their approach, partnerships, measures of success and resources. Finally, participants will use a CCD organizational self-assessment tool to identify and discuss where they think their organization is with regard to a set of CCD principles around capacity and practice – and whether and how they might want to refine that approach. This course is designed to frame informed, productive discussions within each organization’s unique mission, programs, and local context. It will provide participants with skills to deepen the impact of their place-based work.

Course Length: 2 Days

Tuition: $770.0

Course counts toward a professional certificate (PCP): Yes