Dundee: The city that shaped a profession, that shaped a city

Abstract

In 2014 the city of Dundee in Scotland became the only city in the UK to be awarded the accolade of UNESCO City of Design. One of the major U.N. agencies, UNESCO's mission is to contribute to the building of a culture of peace, the eradication of poverty, sustainable development and intercultural dialogue through education, the sciences, culture, communication and information.  UNESCO played a central role in shaping the UN’s policies, supporting community development from its foundation in the 1950s. When making the aware, The UNESCO panel highlighted, in particular, Dundee’s approach to engaging local communities in its urban design and redevelopment. Community learning and development managers and fieldworkers played a central role, over four decades, in realising the engagement of local people in their city’s regeneration.

In this paper, I want to make the case that Dundee, in particular the local authorities and the higher education professional training institute, played a pioneering role in the making of the community learning and development profession in Scotland. This is not to doubt that many others from across the country contributed significantly[i]. But, as I believe I can demonstrate, it was players in Dundee who shaped this profession in Scotland, second to none.  And, further, that the profession had a major role in shaping the city we know today.