International Community Development

The Master in International Community Development (MAICD) focuses on
development work that promotes social cohesion and inclusion in the process of addressing issues such as poverty, economic development, housing,health, education and urban regeneration.It is designed for those employed by local, national or international agencies, commercial
bodies and NGOs who adopt a community development approach to working with communities in different settings and countries – including community workers, planners, healthcare professionals, social workers, teachers, architects, engineers and project managers.The MAICD offers creative responses to difference and diversity, critical examination of policy and professional practice, and participatory approaches to working with local people who seek to improve their lives, their neighbourhood and their environment.The course promotes the perspective that local initiatives need to be placed within a global context and provides an interprofessional learning environment to develop knowledge and skills that can be applied in different countries with a variety of communities.

Core modules

– International Community Development
Principles and practice for active community involvement
– Integrative Project Methodologies
Participatory and interprofessional approaches to project management
– Cross-Cultural Issues
Intercultural perspective on practice exploring difference and diversity
– Social and Spatial Development
Links between social processes and spatial change and their impact
– Community-Based Research
Analysing community issues through participatory approaches
– Master Thesis (Dissertation)
Community-based research related to your professional practice

The course is taught at the School of Social Work at Lucerne University of
Applied Sciences and Arts (Lucerne UASA) and at the University of Westminster (UoW) at their Cavendish and Marylebone sites in central London. Each site is well equipped and resourced, with access to dedicated libraries and computer facilities.

One year full-time (average two days a week) or two to five years parttime
(average one day a week); some modules are taught in concentrated
“block mode” over one to two weeks
– School of Social Work, Lucerne University of Applied Sciences and Arts,
Switzerland, with the School of Integrated Health and School of Architecture
and the Built Environment at the University of Westminster
– Lucerne, Switzerland, and Cavendish and Marylebone sites in central London