Past conferences

IACD runs conferences every year.

These are international or global regional conferences, intended to bring community development practitioners, students, trainers from around the world together to share experiences and to hear some of the world’s top experts in our field. These conferences are always run in association with other partners within the respective global region, or at international level. All of these have led to conference reports, special publications, Statements and articles in the magazine and journals.

We shall post other 2019 regional conferences soon.

Below are the past conferences we have run, from 1979-2019:

June 2019

World Community Development Conference 2019 in Dundee, Scotland

Conference Vision

The nature of the relationship between people, place and power is changing and community work practices across the globe need to be able to influence these new global dynamics. Global challenges of climate change, forced and economic migration, increasing levels of mental ill health, isolation and loneliness alongside the rise of right-wing populism and threat to human rights mean that we need to find new ways of disrupting, challenging and revealing structures of power.

The city of Dundee has a rich history of social change, community activism and community arts and it is through celebrating the achievements of the city’s past that we will build spaces for engaged, practice-led dialogue that poses questions about the identity, purpose and practices of community development.

Reasons Delegates Attended

The conference provided a unique opportunity for practitioners, participants, academics, policy makers, funders and other stakeholders to share perspectives on current contexts and challenges for community work. The conference encompassed cutting edge inputs, papers, creative installations and poster presentations on rights-based community development, addressed and engaged locally, nationally and internationally.

Practice Exchanges

Following the main conference, delegates had the opportunity to take part in a one or three-day themed learning journey to see community development in action in the east coast of Scotland. This enabled a deeper understanding of the context and practice of community development in rural and urban settings in Dundee and neighbouring areas. 

Key Dates

23 June 2019: International Reception and Welcome

24-26 June 2019: Main Conference

27-30 June: Optional practice exchanges and learning journeys in East Scotland

Conference Organisers

The conference organisers are the International Association for Community Development (IACD), the Scottish Government, the Community Learning and Development team at the University of Dundee, Dundee City Council, and Leisure and Culture Dundee, supported by Dundee and Angus Convention Bureau.

 

September 2018.

NIGERIAN CONFERENCE ON COMMUNITY ECONOMIC DEVELOPMENT 

The IACD/Institute for Community Development Practitioners/University of Ogun State 2018 conference held in September, on the theme of Strengthening Community Economic Development has just ended. The conference was organised and chaired by IACD Africa Director and Global Ambassador Muhammad Bello Shitu. A report from the conference will be published later.

Prof Shitu is also currently editing the forthcoming Africa Special Issue of Practice Insights magazine which will include articles from the conference, as well as articles about community development from Kenya, Ethiopia, Tanzania, South Africa and more. Watch out for publication in late October. For now, enjoy the photos from the conference! Many thanks to Lola Oloba, our Nigerian Country Correspondent for these.

June 2018.

THE WORLD COMMUNITY DEVELOPMENT CONFERENCE TOOK PLACE IN MAYNOOTH, IRELAND

Theme: Participation, Power and Progress: Community development towards 2030 – Our analysis, Our actions.

You can find out much more about WCDC 2018  at the conference website http://www.wcdc2018.ie/

World Community Development Conference 2018

Images from WCDC 2018. You can find many more pictures from the conference here http://www.wcdc2018.ie/wcdc2018-images/

We shall be publishing selected papers from WCDC 2018 in the January 2019 issue of Practice Insights magazine.

January 2018

 ASIA-PACIFIC COMMUNITY DEVELOPMENT CONFERENCE

Theme: “Reflexive Community Development Practice Amidst
Complex Realities and Alternative Movements”De La Salle-College of Saint Benilde. Philippines

November 2017

IACD NIGERIA CONFERENCE 12TH – 15TH NOVEMBER 2017

STRENGTHENING STATE-THIRD SECTOR ENGAGEMENT FOR SUSTAINABLE COMMUNITY DEVELOPMENT

February 2017

IACD International/Oceania Conference was held in Auckland, New Zealand in partnership with the ACDA, New Zealand Community Development Association. Sustainably Yours, community development and a sustainable future!

This conference continued our roadshow of events related to the implications for community development of the UN Sustainable Development Goals. A report on the 2017 New Zealand conference has been published and some papers appeared in the April 2017 issue of Practice Insights magazine.

http://www.unitec.ac.nz/epress/wp-content/uploads/2017/07/ACDA-IACD-2017-proceedings.pdf 

http://www.aotearoacommunitydevelopmentassociation.com/2017-cd-conference.

 

 

 

In 2016

IACD/European Community Development Network European Regional conference on the implication for community development of the UN Sustainable Development Goals. Around 100 attended. A report of the conference, including a statement from participants on future collaborative action across Europe can be found in the Practice Insights 6 magazine.

You can find a report from the conference here:

http://eucdn.net/wp-content/uploads/2017/12/SD-Txt.pdf

   

In 2016

IACD/Nigerian Community Development Practitioners Association West African Regional conference. Over 60 IACD members attended this conference. Topics covered included:

 Education and Community Development
 Peace, Conflict and Disaster Management
 Health Sector, Welfare and Youth Development
 Policy Frameworks, Community Change and Faith Based Issues
 Community Participation and Voluntary Sector
 Innovations, Communications and Extension Support Issues

   

In 2016

IACD/Community Development Society (CDS) joint Conference in Bloomington, Minnesota with the theme: Sustaining Community Change—Building Local Capacity to Sustain Community Development Initiatives, with a special focus upon the implication of the UN Sustainable Development Goals for Community Development.  Keynote speakers included the Vice President of the World Bank. Several hundred practitioners and scholars from over thirty countries attended this four day conference. The December 2016 issue of Practice Insights magazine contains a report from the conference.

In 2016,

South Asia regional conference in New Delhi in partnership with Grassroots. This was the first of our roadshow events about the implications of the UN SDGs for community development.

     

In 2015,

International session,reception and our AGM at the 50th Anniversary Conference of our partner the international Community Development Journal.  Participants attended from across the world to celebrate half a century of community development scholarship. Author Marj Mayo, IACD and CDJ Board member was one of the keynote speakers. See  http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=tuchj3cXRWc

      

In 2014,

IACD/CLDSC International Conference in Scotland. 400 delegates from 32 countries came together in Glasgow, Scotland, to consider “What is our common wealth?” and to celebrate community-led action around the globe. Over three and a half days, a lively crowd of community members, activists, practitioners, researchers and policymakers explored how community development approaches catalyse and sustain change. Conversations were structured around three themes: Health, Wealth and Power. Our partner here was the Scottish Community Learning and Development Standards Council.

Find out more about IACD’s 2014 international conference: www.iacdglobal.org/cita2014

Download the conference report to read more!

In 2013 we ran two smaller celebratory events to coincide with our 60th anniversary.  These were both held in the UK, the first in Scotland, where we are based, supported by the Carnegie UK Trust, and the second in London, supported by the Carnegie Foundation.

   

In 2011, delegates from Around the World met in Lisbon, Portugal. Hosted by the Sociedade Portuguesa de Psicologia Comunitária and the Instituto Superior de Psicologia Aplicada (ISPA), the conference attracted approximately 200 delegates from Europe and around the world. The theme of the conference was ‘Transformative Leadership and Empowering Communities’. Sessions allowed sharing of research and practice in areas such as community participation, women and leadership, migration, integration and entrepreneurship.

   

In 2010 we partnered with the US Community Development Society to run an international conference in New Orleans, USA on The Role of Community in Economic and Disaster Recovery.  You can find more information here http://www.comm-dev.org/images/attachments/069_September%202009.pdf

In 2009, several hundred participants from around the world, attended our conference in Brisbane, Australia, on the theme Building Community Centred Economies.  You can read the conference report here.

IACD brisbaneconferenceprogram

   

In 2008 our international conference was in Nova Scotia, Canada under the title What’s Working in Community Development, Nova Scotia. You can find out more here https://ccednet-rcdec.ca/en/event/2008/06/23/conference-whats-working-community-development-nova-scotia

In 2007 Two hundred and fifty community development workers, academics, researchers, donors, policy-makers, and representatives from government, civil society organisations and community groups, met in Hong Kong, China at our international conference on the theme Partnership for People-Centred development: challenges and responses in a globalising world.  From this conference emerged the Hong Kong Declaration.

Between 1979 and 2006 we have held regional and international conferences with partners across the world

Dakar (Senegal) 1979. Kigali (Rwanda) 1980. Cairo, Egypt 1983. Seoul (South Korea). Charleroi (Belgium) 1984/86/91/96 (From 1978-98 this was IACD’s HQ). Taipei (Taiwan) 1987. Bangkok (Thailand) 1989. Banglamung (Thailand) 1993. Pretoria (South Africa) 1997. Edinburgh (Scotland) 1999 (In 1998 the IACD HQ moved to Scotland). Tel Aviv (Israel) 2000. London (UK) 2001. Rotorua (New Zealand) 2001. Montreal (Canada) 2002.  Ithaca (USA) 2003. Budapest (Hungary) 2004. Yaoundé (Cameroon) 2006.