Be a part of the
CDS 50
th
Anniversary Conference
July 14-17, 2019
in Columbia, Missouri, USA.
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H
elp Make CDS History! Come Home to Missouri this summer!
W
e’re hoping to hear from practitioners, academics…. everyone who’s ever worked to improve their community (which is just about everyone!).
For example, if you've been doing community development that involves civic engagement and interconnections between sectors and across disciplines, or community leadership development, or community entrepreneurship development, or community change, community improvement, and/or community innovation work, or community, economic, urban, rural and/or international development work in general –
Okay, that does include just about everyone!
---, you will want to join your colleagues and head to Columbia, Missouri, next summer (July 14-17, 2019) for the 50th anniversary of the
Community Development Society (CDS)
and annual international conference,
Coming Home to Cultivate the Future.
And, PLEASE FORWARD this message far and wide to others to SAVE THE DATE and plan to attend the 50th Anniversary of the Community Development Society & Annual International Conference, July 14-17, 2019, Columbia, Missouri, USA.
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From Como Ave, Minnesota to CoMo in the heart of Missouri, USA.
By Jane Leonard
CDS 2019 Conference Program Chair
I live in St. Paul, Minnesota, USA, a few blocks away from Como Ave, and not too far away from Como Lake, so when I attended the CDS Board Meeting in Columbia, Missouri last month, I was curious about all the references there to “CoMo.” Sometimes I’m a little slow on the “aha”, but once I got it, I was utterly charmed by the term of endearment for the city that we from CDS will all call home next July 14-17, 2019, for the 50
th anniversary and homecoming of our association, and our annual international conference.
As the Columbia Visitors Bureau aptly points out, Columbia, MO is “what you unexpect!” And being someone who loves intact, walkable, and diverse downtowns, I was unexpectedly pleased with the great vibe in CoMo, the beautiful campus of Mizzou - the University of Missouri, and the extra friendly people all around.
Why else is Jane excited about our 50th Anniversary Conference location?
LEARN MORE
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Born in Missouri on the Mizzou campus, and now spread worldwide, the founding of CDS brought together many disciplines 50 years ago and started a movement making clear that community development is “a radical profession….based on the belief that people can give purposeful direction to their collective future. How this occurs is based on the community, the issues, the current capacity of people and the resource base that is present…Community development is gaining knowledge and empowerment through a process of collaboration and action.” (
Practicing Community Development
, Donald W. and Doris P. Littrell, University of Missouri Extension, 2006).
The 50th anniversary year is a golden opportunity to express and explore the extreme relevance and responsibility of the community development field and CDS to be proactive change agents, to help create conditions for and help foster shared and welcoming communities. It's a chance to remember and re-embrace the ideals with which our founders also struggled, to articulate what was happening and what they could do to help amidst the chaotic changes of the 1960s.
Much is the same as 50 years ago: waves of radical action and radical grace in the face of community and world-wide disruptions. Much has changed. We are more fragmented even as we are more widely and thinly connected. Community is fragile, beloved, and yearned.
How can we help cultivate a future seeking and needing community to thrive? Keep going on that quest by joining with colleagues, friends, and people who will become your friends and colleagues because you will meet them in Columbia, Missouri, next July, 2019!
Questions? Please contact Jane Leonard, CDS VP of Programs and 2019 Program Chair:
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Community Development Society
University of Missouri Columbia,229 Gentry Hall, Columbia, MO 65211
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