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International Community Development International Sociocultural Development and Collaboration

The Competence Centre for International Community Development explores social and cultural issues, primarily in the context of international cooperation. The special focus is on social inequality and marginalization. We endeavour to promote equal opportunity through the creation of networks, knowledge building, and knowledge transfer. The following pages are in German.

At the micro and meso levels, and based on sociocultural theory, the team of the Competence Centre for International Community Development applies a transdisciplinary and participatory approach. This approach extends not only to the communities for which the projects are designed, but also to work with governmental bodies, NGOs, and university-level institutions. A key tenet of the research team’s strategy is the consideration of local perspectives, as well as local cultural, historical, and socio-political contexts.

The projects cover different fields within Social Work, including

  • Integration into the labour market of particularly vulnerable groups 
  • Strategy development for social organisations
  • Continuing education for professional social workers

The Team

Research projects

Ausbildung in Coaching in Kongo und Burundi

Training in Coaching in the DR of the Congo

In the Democratic Republic of the Congo (in Bukavu), freelance coaches are being trained to support young people who are striving to enter the labour market. In these regions, Swisscontact (Swiss Foundation for Technical Cooperation) has established a training system that gives young people the opportunity to complete a basic apprenticeship. The Lucerne School of Social Work supports the project with educational modules for coaching.

Leave no one behind, UNDP Albania

The Competence Centre supports social workers in the realignment of social work in Albania. The target group includes organisations working with families and people with disabilities. The Centre provides continuing education programmes in methodology in Albania and study trips to Switzerland for Albanian officials.

Caoching for Employment El Salvador

Rückkehrende aus den USA und Mexiko haben in El Salvador einen schweren Stand. Ziel des Coachingprojekts ist die Entwicklung von beruflichen und privaten Perspektiven in El Salvador und die Integration in den Arbeitsmarkt.

Friseursalon

Coaching for Employment: Employment Support Services (ESS), Laos

In cooperation with Swisscontact Laos, the Lucerne School of Social Work helps to develop and implement a coaching system for young people in Laos making the transition from school to the labour market.

Junge Frau bei der Arbei

Coaching for Employment and Entrepreneurship Marokko

Das Projekt bildet in Marokko Coaches aus, die in vier grossen Städten Jugendliche aus marginalisierten Familien begleiten, damit sie auf dem lokalen Arbeitsmarkt bessere Chancen bekommen.

Continuing and Executice Education

CAS Coaching for Employment

In various developing countries and in cooperation with Swisscontact and local NGOs, as well as governmental organisations (employment agencies), the Lucerne School of Social Work trains local coaches who support young people’s access to vocational education and the labour market. The training is provided within the overall framework of the “Coaching for Employment and Entrepreneurship” project. The coaches assist young people to find their way around the local vocational possibilities and the labour market. They also help them to develop professional ideas and goals and to acquire market-relevant skills through internships, courses, and collaborative learning. The education programme for the coaches is an officially recognised CAS programme of the Lucerne University of Applied Sciences and Arts.

Publications