Date: 10th June 2026
Time: 12noon - 1.30pm
Join us for this Lunchtime Seminar that explores how community development is expanding within social work and how it is evolving beyond traditional health and social care settings.
The Social Work and Community Development Approaches programme (SWCDA), established in 2018 was designed to address a long-standing gap in post-qualifying training for social workers . Successful completion leads to a Northern Ireland Social Care Council Specialist Award and 90 Level 7 academic credits. Supported by the Department of Health, the programme brings together trainers, practitioners and educators to strengthen skills in working creatively with and within communities.
This seminar will showcase practitioners from across a wide range of settings in Northern Ireland, highlighting how learning from the programme has been applied into real-life practice. A range of speakers will also present their own work to inform future learning.
The seminar builds on a highly successful regional and international launch of the Northern Ireland Social Care Council Community Development in Social Work Learning Zone resource and will build fresh content across new sectors and settings.
Key areas covered in this Lunchtime Seminar will include:
- A Preview of the Community Development in Social Work Learning Zone resource
- An Introduction to the SWCDA programme
- Real life social work applications of community development including previous SWCDA candidates across sectors including justice, education, community/ voluntary sector, and Patient Client Council
- Outcomes for service users, agencies and the wider profession
- An Independent review of the Social Care Council website from experts by experience
