2018 Community Projects

Exploring Eco-Tourism and Fair Trade in Peru

The 2018 International Field course included eight students who journeyed to the mountains and Peru under the
leadership of Prof. Robin Campbell with support from Dr. John Colton. Much of their first week was spent climbing the Inca Trail, a 45 kilometre hike to the top of the Andes and the ancient Inca city and world heritage site of Machu Picchu (see picture). It was a very strenuous, challenging and mind-blowing hike.

Their final two weeks were spent in the small mountain community of Lucmabamba, where they lived with families who are a part of a fair trade coffee coop. They picked and processed coffee and worked as part of a subsidence lifestyle while appreciating the implications and impacts of fair trade coffee production on daily life in this community. They also spent time working with children at the local school, helping them to learn English. Overall, It was an amazing capstone to their community development degree.

Organizational Development for S.M.I.L.E. 

S.M.I.L.E. (the Sensory Motor Instructional Leadership Experience) is a major community engagement program at  Acadia University in which children and youth with challenges work as buddies with a wide range of Acadia students across the year. In this project seven students worked with Dr. Roxanne Seamen from the School of Kinesiology to understand the organizational context and develop organizational resources for the benefit of the program. Aspects of the work included: documenting narrative stories of S.M.I.L.E. partnerships, developing student training manuals and mental health resources, and doing the organizational work to plan the graduation appreciation brunch. Students came away with a new appreciation for the development work required to support and strengthen a community organization

Video Development for Regional Community Development Organizations

A team of eight students produced two-three minute videos describing the work of each of seven leading community development organizations in region for the education and promotion efforts of each organization. The organizations were: The Town of Kentville Play Initiative, The Windsor Makers Project, Youth L.I.V.E., Halifax Youth Advocacy Program. Energize Bridgewater Energy Poverty Initiative, Little Foot Yurts and Glooscap First Nation. The Energize Bridgewater video was submitted as part of a competition for a $250,000 grant and Bridgewater was one of the successful applicants! In the process, students learned about their respective organizations in depth, gained professional training on video development and made a lasting contribution to the organizations.