Launch of new degree

A new degree in Community Regeneration has been launched by the University, aimed at helping community and public service workers improve our local urban and rural communities.

The inter-disciplinary BA Professional Development in Community Regeneration is a training programme for those working in areas of social and economic need in Scotland and throughout the UK.

A consultation carried out on behalf of the Scottish Executive and the Scottish Urban Regeneration Forum last year found that there was a need for specific training for those working in the field of community regeneration. The degree is designed to improve professional knowledge and skills in community planning, community capacity building, collaborative practice and sustainable development.

Jointly developed and delivered by the Department of Community Education and the School of Town and Regional Planning, the BA Professional Development in Community Regeneration is a two-year part-time degree level programme. At a time when collaboration is becoming more and more important in the effective development and delivery of public and community-based services, the course brings together, for the first time, the skills of the planner with those of the community educator.

The University trains more students in these subjects than any other Scottish university and this new degree will help meet the expanding demands of the professions in this sector.

Professor Greg Lloyd, Head of the Geddes Institute and the Department of Town and Regional Planning, said, "Patrick Geddes, the founding father of town planning, said that planning was all about people and place. Geddes would have approved of this new qualification as it addresses the growing need for professionals to work in localities and with local people in the development and delivery of services, particularly with the introduction of community planning."