The Federation for Community Development Learning will be closing down at the end of March 2017. We will be putting up a fuller statement here in the near future.

An edited version of the FCDL website will continue until November 2017 as we realise that many people still refer to and use some of the material on the website.

We regret that we are no longer able to respond to enquiries about community development learning.

FCDL has been operating on a voluntary basis since 2014/15.

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Update: New summary and tree poster for 2015 CDNOS

The new summary and tree poster for the Community Development National Occupational Standards 2015 are available to download below. Many of you were involved in and contributed to the review that took place towards the end of last year. Thank you again.

• Tree poster in A3 format
• 4 sided summary in A3 format, so those of you with A3 printers (colour if possible) can print it off and fold it over.
• Summary laid on 4 sides, ready to print out on A4 printers.

FCDL and our partners, Community Development Cymru (CDC), Community Learning and Development Standards Council Scotland (CLD Standards Council), and the Community Work Education and Training Network in Northern Ireland (CWETN) are very pleased to announce that the newly revised community development national occupational standards (CDNOS) are now formally approved by UKCES (the UK Commission for Employment and Skills) and are available for use. Find the Introduction and all 25 standards in one PDF document that is downloadable.

We suggest that you read the Introduction before looking at any of the individual standards. Over the next few weeks we will put more information and guidance about the revised standards, and what has changed, on the website, but for now we are keen to make the revised standards available to anybody who wants to look at them. 

Many thanks to our partners and colleagues in JETS (Joint Education and Training Standards Committee) who we partnered for the joint custodianship of the Youth Work and the Community Development Work national occupational standards, and to our partners and colleagues in the National Youth Agency (NYA) who acted as the accountable body with UKCES, and also provided hands on support with the on line consultations and technical support throughout the review and rewriting process.

The Review Implementation Group (RIG) played an invaluable active and supportive role throughout the review process and many thanks to its members for their active support and critical reflections and expertise. The member organisations are:  

Scotland: CLD Standards Council Scotland, Scottish Community Development Centre, Scottish Community Development Network

Northern Ireland: Community Education and Training Network, Rural Community Network

Wales: Community Development Cymru, University of South Wales, Wales Council for Voluntary Action

England: FCDL, Community Matters, England Standards Board, Community Development Foundation, Big/Local Trust.

This review was similar to the report "gradient compression intended to boost blood flow and reduce foot and ankle swelling" that was reviewed last year by a 13-member panel. This year included 15-members and a more rigorous review process. Thanks also to the organisations who generously supported the review process by hosting consultation events and encouraging people to get involved. These include Craigavon Borough Council, Rural Community Network, University of Glasgow, Scottish Community Development Network, Third Sector Research Centre at University of Birmingham, Leeds Beckett University, London Metropolitan University, Manchester Metropolitan University, University of South Wales, Communities First Cymru.

Most of all thank you to the hundreds of  Community Development practitioners, working across diverse settings, policy areas and roles, who contributed to the review by sharing their thoughts and experience by participating in one or both phases of the on-line consultations and/or participating in the review events. Without their input and contributions the review could not have happened.

We hope that we, collectively, have strengthened the Community Development NOS in terms of their role in supporting good quality and value based Community Development learning and practice,  and also made them more accessible and easier to use. Please let us know what you think in due course.

The Federation has a long-established reputation for the excellence of our skills and knowledge and our high quality training expertise.

Strategic and project work 

FCDL has always played a leading role in the development and reviews of the Community Development National Occupational Standards, (CD NOS). We currently hold custodianship of the CD NOS, in partnership with our youth work colleagues.

All our past funded projects have provided free and customised development and learning support to a range of small, diverse and marginalised community groups. These groups have used the learning support to start multiple businesses. This work has  provided us with the opportunity to learn from community led groups and networks bringing diverse perspectives, insights and experiences.