A Project Supported by the NED Foundation Grants Program

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Project Overview

Project Grant Year: 
2017 to 2018
December 2017 to June 2018 (Final Report)
 
NED Inc. engaged, subsidised and supervised two Sociology undergraduate students from Macquarie University to initiate research within the following framework:
 
Research Framework PACE
 
Overall approach: conduct a Formative Evaluation of the SDN workshop as a model of social development for facilitating change on a personal and community level.
 
  1. Analysis of the context and field of Social Development (“What’s happening out there?”):
  2. Establish a foundation for the examination of what constitutes ‘Social Development’ (includes a literature review).
  3. Collation of the primary exponents of Social Development, and their areas of operation – firstly nationally, then globally.
  4. Analysis of SDN’s core practice – the SDN Workshop (“Do we satisfy people’s needs?”):
  5. The design and format of SDN workshops (in preparation for further study).
  6. Examine the reasons participants want to attend a workshop. (Comparisons to alternative offerings.)
  7. Explore the interpersonal and group dynamics that unfold within an SDN workshop.
  8. Initiate a body of feedback from past SDN workshop participants, to assess what are the perceived areas of longer-term effectiveness or otherwise of the workshop’s influence socially and personally.
  9. Future evolution of SDN (How can we adapt and participate?):
  10. Expanding demographics at workshops: how can we bring in, or how can we reach out to, a wider demographic?
  11. Roles for the SDN Workshop as a support in the wider fields of social and personal development.
  12. Embracing Social Media: how can we carry the essence of SDN into the new social environments that are evolving?