Announcing our 2026 Award Recipients

IACD Lifetime Achievement Awards

The IACD Lifetime Achievement Award is presented to individuals who have provided an outstanding contribution to community development throughout a significant portion of their career. 

Sarah Banks – Lifetime Achievement Award Recipient

This year we were delighted to present the IACD Lifetime Achievement Award to Professor Sarah Banks in recognition of her outstanding, long-standing contributions to the discipline, practice, and ethics of community development.

Professor Emerita in the Department of Sociology at Durham University, Sarah began her career in community development roles with Durham Council and Durham Rural Community Council before joining the university as a tutor in community and youth work in 1987. During the 1980s and 1990s, she was active in the Federation for Community Work Training Groups and the North East Group, pioneering the regional and national development and accreditation of community work learning across the UK.

At Durham University, Sarah drew directly on her practice background to initiate and promote community-based participatory research, co-founding the Centre for Social Justice and Community Action in 2009—an institute that now enjoys an international reputation for participatory action research.

Internationally respected for her work on ethics in community development, social work, and youth work, Sarah has authored and edited numerous influential books and publications. As a dedicated member and advocate of IACD, she has jointly coordinated the Researchers Forum and served on the board of the Community Development Journal, where she successfully championed bursary proposals that enabled international delegates to attend the World Community Development Conference in Glasgow 2026.

IACD extends congratulations to Sarah for her significant contributions as a practitioner, educator, and leader, and warm appreciation as a good friend and ally to our global network.

In expressing appreciation, Sarah said she was honoured to be given an award by an association that she respects and values. She continued: ‘Being given an award and having to say something causes reflection on who you are, what you've achieved and how. As a community development worker, I'm particularly interested in how - the process of how things happen. How did I develop my confidence, skills and knowledge as a community development worker? And within this how did I develop my understanding of the processes of community development? One of the answers lies through associations and networks.

As community development workers we are constantly vigilant, noticing small things (someone not in the room or on the sidelines), and taking into account the bigger picture policies, politics and power (for example, the impact of global political tensions on the regional economy and local racism).

It's the complexities, challenges and conflicts in community development that keep us creative, vigilant, flexible and committed; it's the association with others and constant learning and support that keep us going and aware of the bigger picture. This is a role that IACD plays for all of us, as we face challenges ahead, of which unconscious AI is just one. Thanks again to IACD.’

Alasdair McKinlay - Posthumous Lifetime Achievement Award

Former Head of the Community Planning and Empowerment Unit at Scottish Government.

Earlier this year, the community development sector lost an advocate, a supporter, and a friend. IACD Trustees present this posthumous Lifetime Achievement Award in recognition of an exceptional career dedicated to strengthening communities, advancing participation, and shaping community empowerment policy in Scotland and beyond.

Alasdair’s contribution spanned decades. Unusually for the civil service, he remained embedded in one area of work throughout his career because of his deep commitment to community-led action. At a time when community participation was still too often viewed as an ‘optional extra,’ Alasdair recognised it as a cornerstone of effective public policy. Well before it was a recognised way of working, he prioritised the voices of lived and living experience - regularly getting out into communities to hear directly from people about what mattered most and encouraging colleagues and Ministers to join him.

Through his work with Communities Scotland and the Scottish Government, Alasdair helped transform how community development was understood and supported. He commissioned the pioneering Working Together Learning Together programme, led Scotland’s first Community Empowerment Action Plan in 2009, introduced community asset transfer, delivered the 2015 Community Empowerment Act, and supported the National Standards for Community Engagement.

He was also a ‘champion connector of people - an amazing networker and network builder’ who knew how to spark conversations between people and organisations that made a genuine difference.

For IACD, his support was vital. From attending our Scottish launch conference in 1999 to our 2023 event at the Scottish Parliament marking 25 operational years in Scotland and, successfully convincing the Scottish Government in 2014 to champion IACD internationally, thereby securing our annual core grant. Over 20 years, Alasdair remained a steadfast ally and a constant presence at our major milestones.

Beyond his policy achievements, those who worked alongside Alasdair remember him for his personal qualities. He ‘combined intellectual rigour with humility, determination with kindness,’ encouraging practitioners, policymakers, and community activists to think ambitiously while remaining firmly grounded in the realities of people’s lives.

Alasdair will be remembered with deep respect, affection, and gratitude. His impact on community development is lasting, his contribution will be his legacy, and his example is one that will endure for many years to come.

IACD Trustees are honoured that Alasdair’s family are happy to accept this posthumous Lifetime Achievement Award on his behalf.