Community Development projects and initiatives can suffer from a deficiency in skills and understanding relating to the diverse roles and responsibilities required of project managers and over-seers. To maximise the likelihood of success therefore, those with responsibility for community development initiatives require theoretical and practical capacity in project planning, management and evaluation. The skills involved in effective communication with stakeholders, regulatory bodies and various levels of government; financial planning and management; and foreseeing and addressing complex problems and barriers, are particularly important. Thus the rationale for this module is to introduce students to management strategies for working with young people and communities. The module will be led by both academics and practitioners in the field of Youth, and Community Development. The module focuses on developing reflective practice and the facilitation of development in the student cohort. Students will explore different ways of supporting individuals and teams and look at principles of evaluation and accountability in youth and community development work.

This module is designed to enable students to demonstrate the ability to use appropriate approaches to management strategies for working with young people and communities. A key element of the module will be the operationalization of Management Theory. Students will examine management skills and management styles, addressing planning, organisation, leading, managing, control, goal setting, motivation, empowering, inclusion and delegation. The module will teach students to analyse the community context of projects that they may work in to take account of traditional practices, and the functions of networks and alliances. Finally, the module will introduce students to the development and design of team roles / team work, the development of reflective practice and the facilitation of development.

On successful completion of this module the learner should be able to: - Understand and analyse a number of different types of community development organisations and approaches to project management - Recognise the practicalities of working in community youth work / community development / family resource project. - Analyse the importance of appropriate alliances and relationship building with other relevant organisations. - Assess the importance of strategic planning and the management and challenges of funding and staff - to bring about the advancement of that particular organisation / project. - Utilise the skills and principles of reflective practice to help ensure on-going professional growth and development relating to project management and associated activities

On successful completion of this module the learner should be able to: - Demonstrate a critically informed awareness of the work of practitioners in the field. This will be in support of the theoretical sociological knowledge gained across other modules.

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The module will provide the opportunity for students to critically engage in targeted discussion and analysis of key areas of contemporary interest for sociology and their real world applications through presentations and discussions delivered and directed by academics and practitioners.