PARTICIPATORY PROJECT PLANNING AND MANAGEMENT
May 19 – June 27, 2025
This course will examine the key concepts of designing a project or program of action that cultivates positive social change. Emphasis will be placed on the values, principles, and critical thinking skills involved in strategic planning, along with participatory project management processes and tools to achieve outcomes for the well-being of all, particularly the most marginalized. It will give participants an opportunity to reflect on their own experience and to learn from examples of participatory social change. Participants will be challenged to shift their mindset and to select and adapt tools to fit their situation and development context, creating spaces to allow community-led development to flourish.
Abdul Samad, Community worker
Who can register?
This course is for change-makers of any age or sector questioning the relevance of projects and programs driven by external organizations rather than people in the community. This includes community builders, government agencies, NGOs, universities, and grantmaking organizations. It will be tailored particularly to mid-level managers from formal NGOs who have in mind a project they are doing or are planning to implement in community.
Personal benefits
As a result of this course, participants will deepen their understanding of the social change process. This includes the ability to:
• Identify practical strategies for creating inclusive, participatory spaces in development practice;
• Analyze complex situations and identify potential pathways of change;
• Develop knowledge and skills to facilitate processes to explore and plan development initiatives;
• Explore methods and skills to act on implementation;
• Reflect and assess progress to sustain development impacts;
• Gain new insights by exchanging practical skills and ideas for managing social change initiatives with colleagues; and
• Select and integrate monitoring, evaluation and learning methods into your work.
Time requirement
The live learning sessions will take place Tuesdays and Fridays at 9.30am ADT
This course runs for 6 weeks. As a participant, you are expected to spend eight hours per week engaged in learning activities by attending live learning sessions, participating in online discussion forums, reading, reflecting, and completing assignments independently. All instructional materials will be in English.
Fees
Tuition for the course is $400. Coady Institute strives to ensure that practitioners and community members working toward community led development around the world have access to its courses. This is made possible through funding provided by many individual and institutional donors. Full bursaries are available for First Nations, Métis and Inuit community members residing in Canada, and members from African Nova Scotian communities and Nova Scotians of African descent.
If you belong to one of these communities and would like to request a full bursary, please reach out to coadyadmit@stfx.ca