Supporting Community Economic Development Since 1989

The CED Certificate Program in CED planning and practice immerses students in a peer-supported learning environment.  We place great emphasis on using a cohort approach to the program since the majority of our students are already mature professionals. Peer support encourages mutual sharing of personal cases studies and learnings, builds confidence among participants as they become “experts” in their field, and enables networking opportunities that contribute to long-term success in both their daily work and their career advancement. 

The Certificate Program

The certificate program has two components: course work and "The Project". 

Courses

CLICK HERE TO VIEW THE FULL COURSE LIST.  (Not all courses are taught in the certificate.)

Courses are provided over the course of eight months online. 

The curriculum focuses on multiple areas of CED theory and practice, including:

  • Economic reconciliation and Indigenous worldviews
  • Ecosystem sustainability and resource-based economic development
  • Circular and localist economies
  • Social entrepreneurship and the social economy
  • Community organizing and engagement for systemic change
  • Economic resilience and recovery from disruption
  • Tools and strategies for daily CED practice in the field
  • Personal and professional development as a CED leader

Usually a rotating selection of 13 courses are offered each year, including "The Project" course which is mandatory for program completion. A full list of course descriptions can be found here. 

The Project

Each student in the CED Certificate program is asked to develop a final project that integrates all of the experiences and curriculum in the program, and
provides students with a “safe to fail, safe to succeed” space to try out what they have learned. The project includes three components:

1) Completion of a CED Project Canvas, which is a tool for mapping out a project at a high level.

2) Completion of a CED Project Brief, which helps describe a project’s elements and rationale
across a variety of categories.

3) Completion of a 10-minute in-class (online) presentation on the project.

While working on "The Project", you will have individual meetings with your mentor through the process. 

 

Tuition & Fees

The program is currently on hiatus as we update some of our programming: add yourself to our mailing list to stay up to date on our progress. 

For additional questions, please review our FAQs page or contact ced_info@sfu.ca for more information.