World Takes Note of Derby Community Work
28 April 2011
Peter at the conference in Dakar, Senegal. His work is attracting international interest.
Community work in Derby is attracting international interest thanks to its innovation and ongoing success.
A project carried out by the University of Derby recently made the agenda of a global conference in Africa, which was attended by delegates from across the world.
Peter Walker, Community Relations Officer at the University, swapped Derby for Dakar, Senegal, to talk about his work at the African Regional Conference on University-Community Partnerships.
New projects
Since joining the University in 2008, Peter has developed numerous projects to help people in Derby, including an enterprise with the city's Congolese community.
He said: "As part of my work at the University, I've had the privilege of engaging with Derby's minority communities, including forced migrants from the Democratic Republic of Congo.
"At this global conference in Senegal, I discussed the programme of work that we developed with the Congolese community over the last two years to demonstrate our commitment to Community-University engagement.
"This was presented as an example of how universities can work more effectively with the communities they serve".
Bringing communities together
Peter's work has included the creation of a sewing group and a drop in centre to help people develop important life skills - both brought about through close partnership with the community.
The project has also led to the establishment of 'Community Space Derby' - a large meeting facility at Pear Tree Library which enables community groups with little or no funding to rent a space for free.
This initiative has enabled Peter to develop a unique model for successful community relations work, which is now being noticed around the world.
Global interest
The Conference took place on 25-26 March at Dakar's Cheikh Anta Diop University.
Delegates included representatives from the USA, Canada, Holland, Switzerland, the UK and Spain, as well as several African countries including Kenya, South Africa, Cameroon and Mozambique.
Professor Aliou Guisse, of Cheikh Anta Diop University, helped organise the conference. He said: "We'd like to warmly thank Peter for his pertinent and interesting talk.
"He showed us evidence of a new and generous way of engaging with different community groups and tackling the issues that people in fragile communities face.
"This work is very exciting and everyone at the conference took some good ideas away with them. We're very keen to continue this good relationship with the University of Derby, and hope that the University continues to push community relations work forward".
Recognition
Peter's work was recognized in 2009 when it was shortlisted by the Times Higher Education Awards as an outstanding contribution to local communities.
Now, the example of Derby is fuelling new ideas across the globe, putting the University and the city firmly on the map.
See pictures from the Dakar conference
For more information about this news article, contact Luke Foddy on 01332 591945, or email l.foddy@derby.ac.uk
