Photo opportunity: 5pm, Staff Lounge, Faculty of Education and Social Work, Gardyne Rd Campus, University of Dundee.
A new degree in Community Regeneration - a course aimed at helping community and public service workers improve our local urban and rural communities - will be launched by the University of Dundee tomorrow (Thursday 4 December).
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 two-year part-time degree level programme that brings together for the first time the skills of the planner with those of the community educator at a time when collaboration is becoming more and more important in the effective development and delivery of public and community-based services.
The University of Dundee 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."
The BA Professional Development, which combines workshops and distance learning, will start in early 2004 and recruitment is already well under way.
To mark the launch, there will be a presentation and buffet on Thursday 4 December, 5pm-6pm at the Faculty of Education and Social Work.
For more information and how to apply please contact Programme Leader Mike Naulty on 01382 464388 or email m.naulty@dundee.ac.uk
By Esther Black, Press Officer 01382 344768, out of hours: 07968298585, e.z.black@dundee.ac.uk