Community Development and Youth Work

Community and Development and Youth Work involves working with individuals and communities. It is a values based profession that enables people to identify their own and collective goals, take part in learning and bring about change for themselves and their communities.
Studying this course will prepare you for a career dedicated to building stronger, more equitable communities. It will equip you with the skills, knowledge, and values to address various community challenges. These may include contemporary social, political and environmental issues. You will be able to use collective action and community empowerment to promote positive change.
You will develop expertise across community development, adult education, and youth work. These include:

• Community engagement strategies and relationship building

• Social justice theory and application

• Environmental sustainability and community resilience

• Critical reflection and ethical practice

• Political analysis

• Social policy development and implementation

• Community organising and grassroots activism

• Participatory research methods

• Programme planning, delivery, and evaluation

• Multi-agency partnership working

• Individual and group facilitation skills

Beyond community practice expertise, you'll build transferable skills highly valued across sectors:

• Critical thinking and problem-solving for complex social challenges

• Research and data analysis to inform evidence-based practice

• Professional communication with and for diverse audiences

• Interdisciplinary collaboration through learning alongside students from other professions

• Leadership and facilitation skills for group work and community organising

By studying Community Development and Youth Work, you can help create stronger, more inclusive communities.
You will gain valuable skills in leadership, communication and community engagement. You will also learn how people can work together more effectively towards progressive social change.
Studying this course can enable you to make a real and lasting impact in people's lives.
You will be encouraged to undertake an analysis of areas such as:

• social justice

• equality

• environmental issues

• political perspectives

• personal and professional values

This will enhance your critical thinking and reflection skills.
You will spend time working directly in communities, applying your learning in real-world settings. If you are not already engaged in work, our practice placements are carefully matched to your interests and career goals. The placements span diverse organisations and populations. These include working with children, young people or adults in a range of settings.
If you are already employed in community work, this course will integrate with your current role. It will enhance your practice through structured learning and reflection.
In your second year, you will undertake our unique youth work module that takes place in a local youth work organisation. This is run in collaboration with staff and young people. Our students regularly rate this as one of their favourite parts of the course.
In your third and fourth years, you'll conduct original research on issues you're passionate about. You will contribute new knowledge to your field while developing advanced research capabilities. This research is undertaken on placement. It is regularly used by partner organisations to support funding applications and to promote the work they undertake.
There are opportunities to undertake overseas practice placements. Previously, these have taken place in Brazil and Ireland.
This course is accredited by the Community Learning and Development Standards Council for Scotland. The CLD Standards Council is the professional body for people who work or volunteer in Community Learning and Development.