Studieplan Community Development and Social Innovation

Background and profile of the study programme

Global Global trends increasingly affect local societies. Both individual citizens and local actors in civil society, welfare and health services is faced with constant changes within external and internal actors and structures. Local actors can better contribute to a sustainable social development of communities if they have skills to foster cooperation and social innovation. The master’s programme in Community Development and Social Innovation offers a platform for developing skills and competence on development and innovation based on the UN sustainable development goals. In the area of health, welfare and faithbased organizations, Social Inovation presupposes leadershipskills and values that combine knowledge of the past with belief in the future.

VID Specialized University has a long history of engagement in the education of students towards civil society sector, locally and globally. This master’s programme seeks to combine the long history of VIDs diaconal and societal engagement with challenges connected to recent developments within our globalized society. How can we develop valuebased and human rights based sustainable communities? How can the UN development goals help us locate relevant challenges in our local communities? How can we foster leadership models and promote social innovation with the aim to improve services within religious and secular organizations, private and public health and social care? This master’s programme seeks to prepare students for present and future challenges in the described contexts.

Students will be prepared to initiate processes of interaction between different cultures and sectors in society (public, private, civil society), between secular and religious life stances and between professionals and volunteers. The study programme aims at creating a laboratory of innovation where social cohesion, religious understanding, and sustainable citizenship is discussed and developed. The programme also prepares students for an academic career.

The programme includes 55 ECTS in research method, datacollection, and master thesis writing. The students are expected to do their own research project and present it in a comprehensive master thesis. The curriculum has an emphasis on academic discussions on the topics of community development, globalization and social Inovation.

Academic Subject

The study programme is placed within civil society studies, with a particular focus on community development and social innovation related to religious organizations, nongovernmental organization, health care, and social welfare. Civil society is here understood as the third sector in society, separated from, but closely related to and intertwined with, both government structures and the private business market. The programme has a cross disciplinary approach to community development and social innovation, drawing on competence from both social sciences and the humanities. The programme offers the following specializations:

• Diakonia and Leadership in Christian Social practice

This specialization focuses on theories and practices for faith-based professional service, furthering equality, welfare, health, well-being and development. Diakonia has its value basis in a Christian tradition, emphasizing that service to the world belongs to the being of the Church in different contexts, both locally and globally. The diakonia specialization of the program understands faith as motivation and resource for social innovation and community development. It equips the students for different services and leadership positions in churches and faith communities and in faith-based, non-profit development organizations.

• Values-based leadership and Social Innovation

This specialization has a particular focus on organizing and leading social innovation within social welfare and the health sector. In diverse societies, committed and cultural sensitive leadership-models must be developed in order to frame processes of social change. UN sustainable development goal 8 and 9 highlight the need for innovation, growth, and decent work conditions. The content of the specialization seeks to combine these ambitions through its focus on leadership models that promote value consciousness, and develop skills for project management and social innovation.

• Intercultural Relations and Migration

In order to facilitate building sustainable cities and communities (UN sustainable development goals 11), the programme offers a specialization in migration and intercultural competence. In a globalized world, communication and digital literacy are key factors in order to build strong local communities and civil society, and the specialization will consequently focus on issues of diversity, communication, technology and migration as means to strengthen the competence needed in order to reach the UN development goals – both locally and globally

Structure

The 120 ECTS study programme includes 90 ECTS compulsory courses (including the master thesis), common for all students on both campuses. These courses will be taught as a combination of e-learning and seminars on both campuses. Each specialization contains of 20 ECTS specialization courses in second and third semester. In addition to this, students choose one elective 10 ECTS course across the three specializations or from other approved master programmes.

In the first semester the students are introduced to all the central topics of the program. In addition to tuition in the different courses, there is an overarching focus on bulding academic writingskills through mandatory writing seminars.

In the second semester the students will build competence in Theory of science, Research methods and continue to build their academic writing skills in preparing their project proposal for the master thesis. They will attend the VID profile course that gives insights in Values and Worldviews. The students will this semester also deepen themselves in the topics of one specialization course.

In the third semester the students develop further their research skills when they work on their chosen subject for the master thesis, preparing data collection and literature reviews. Further the students deepen their competence within their specialisation and one chosen elective to tailor their own competence. This semester it will in the future also become possible to study from a partner institution abroad.

The students will in the last semester deepen themselves within one specific theme and research question in their independent work on the master’s thesis.

Students are encouraged to spend either the third and/or the fourth semester abroad at one of our partner institutions. We are developing tailored exchange programmes together with some of these institutions.

Target group

The study programme Master in Community Development and Social Innovation is a crossdisciplinary programme directed towards students with a bachelor’s degree who want to learn more about community development and social innovation in local and global contexts. Given the global approach of the programme, students with different backgrounds, studies, and work experiences from all over the world are invited to join the programme in order to form a creative and international environment for discussions about sustainable development, peaceful co-existence and the role of faith- and life stands. The programme aims at educating progressive and inventive students for positions within religious institutions, civil society organizations, within private and public health care and social work. It encourages the students to engage in challenges defined by the UN sustainable 3 development goals, both in leadership positions and as co-workers who promote change through social innovation initiatives.

Læringsutbyttebeskrivelsene er lagt på 2. syklus i tråd med det nasjonale kvalifikasjonsrammeverket for høyere utdanning. Etter fullført studium skal kandidaten ha følgende læringsutbytte, inndelt i kunnskaper, ferdigheter og generell kompetanse:

Knowledge

The Candidate

• has advanced understanding of the role of civil society, locally and globally, with focus on the fields of welfare, health and religion
• has thorough knowledge about the importance of leadership, cooperation and intercultural communication in civil society work and community development
• has thorough knowledge about theories of globalization and the relationship between political and economic macro structures and local initiatives and innovations
• has advanced knowledge about methodological challenges related to the study of civil society and community development
• is able to analyze resources and challenges in civil society, organizations, and communities, through the lenses of intersectionality and a deepened theoretical knowledge within the fields of diakonia and Christian social practice, migration and intercultural competence, or value-based leadership and social innovation

Skills

The Candidate

• is able to lead development and innovation processes by strengthening participation and cooperation between professionals and volunteers
• is able to facilitate processes of empowerment with marginalized groups and individuals in society
• is able to relate critically and constructively to scientific, disciplinary, and public discourses that are relevant for her/his field of specialization
• is able to promote the UN sustainable development goals through contributions in the public discourse and research-based practice
• has advanced information literacy and is able to critically analyze sources of information related to his/her field of study
• has advanced religious literacy and is able to critically analyze the role of religion in community development and social innovation
• has developed knowledge and skills related to e-learning and the use of technology in different processes of communication

General Competences

The Candidate

• is able to analyze ethical dilemmas related to community development and social innovation
• is able to apply theoretical knowledge in the development of practical projects related to community development and social innovation
• is able to communicate knowledge concerning civil socity, community development and social innovation in a variety of contexts
• is able to write an academic thesis and develop research proposals within his/her field of specialization
• is able to position own and others research within a larger context, i.e. within civil society studies, community development studies, diaconal studies, leadership studies, migration studies and/or intercultural studies
• is able to evaluate develop and reflect on, her/his own professional role and the role of her/his own organization within civil society and community development in both a local and global perspective
• understands the possibilities and responsibilities associated with organizing social innovation processes

One year of study consists of ten months full time work and represents 60 ECTS credits. The number of credits for each separate course, and all relevant information necessary for the student, are described in the course descriptions. Methods of teaching are lectures and seminars, group work, assignments based on individual activity studentdepending on the student’s ability to work independently (or in groups), creatively and critically. The programme also includes varied forms of e-learning and will challenge the students to use technology in new ways in order to communicate across VIDs different campuses and with students and teachers in collaborating institutions in other parts of the world.

Academic writing is developed through practicing academic writing, rewriting of academic texts, and also through reflecting upon their own and other’s writings. For this purpose, two writing seminars during first semester are conducted. Academic writing is further emphasised through training during the second semester and third semester. In the third semester, academic wiritng skills are developed further through group seminars. In the last semester, the Master thesis gives the ultimate training for presenting academic work through writings.

The quality assurance system, including the student democracy structure at VID, is the tool to recieve, systematize and analyse feedback from participants in the programme. The system shall, in predictable and structured ways, give VID information in order to develop both the study and the total learning environment

Each individual course will be evaluated and graded with a letter-grade (A-F) or Pass/Fail according to each separate course description. More information about the grading scale: Grading - VID Specialized University.

See also https://www.vid.no/en/rules-and-regulations-for-studies/

All courses require compulsory presence in class, with a minimum of 60% attendance.

The various modes of assessment are designed to be both adequate means of assessment of the quality of the students’ work and as a legal protection on behalf of the students. The different modes of assessment are developed in order to measure the learning outcome of each course and module.

The following modes of assessments will be applied during the education:

• written examination
• Home examination, individually or in groups
• independent, written assignment of a certain length (Master’s Thesis)
• written assignments
• oral examination
• posters
• written assignment or theme presentation to a group or seminar
• oral assignment or theme presentation to a group or seminar
• oral opposition/criticism of an assignment or course presentation
• digital assignments

VID Specialized University has a long history of international relations with universities and international research networks around the globe and has partner institutions in several countries.

Historical and contemporary experiences with internationalization are applied in teaching and research, and students are exposed to relevant knowledge on global perspectives within the field of intercultural competence, diakonia, and leadership studies. The programme also has a particular focus on the global aspects of the UN sustainable development goals.

International students are enrolled every year in the program, hence all lectures are taught in English, the syllabus is in English, and the master thesis are written in English, enabling research results to be communicated internationally.

VID has a long and relevant experience with student and teacher mobility. Therefore, the students are encouraged to study at one of our partner institutions abroad during the programme. Such an experience will strengthen the students’ intellectual capacity, widen the students’ horizon, and provide a comparative perspective on the programmes’ courses. Studies at a university in different national context will provide student and faculty with international, updated knowledge in the various disciplines of the programme.

Admission requirements are as follows: a bachelor’s degree within social sciences, humanities, religion and theology, administration, health- or social work. An average grade that equals C in an A-F gradingsystem is required.

Most non-native English speakers, and some native English speakers, have to document their proficiency in English by taking one of these internationally recognised tests: TOEFL, IELTS or PTE test results. It is required a result equal to TOEFL Test of English as a Foreign Language with a minimum score of 550 on the paper-based test (PBT) or a score of 80 on the internet-based test (IBT), with at least 19 in reading, 19 in listening, 19 in speaking and 23 in writing.

See the following link for further information: https://www.vid.no/en/international/full-degree/application/