Upcoming Course:
JUSTICE BASED APPROACH: FOUNDATION
THE JUSTICE BASED APPROACH: FOUNDATION COURSE
An interactive course to lead, innovate and inspire change.
Join the global movement for more effective and radical change through this essential course on social and environmental justice.
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THE ESSENTIALS
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Course length: 7 weeks
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Time commitment: 6-7 hours per week, except first week
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Week 1.
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Live session: 2 hours, for orientation
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Weeks 2 - 7.
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Live sessions: 6 hours per week, every Tuesday and Thursday for 3 hours each
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Self-guided: up to 1 hour per week
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Optional sessions: Monday for networking, Friday for reflection, plus additional Q&A
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Price: $595 USD
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Groups of 10+: $535 USD
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Language: English
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Delivery method: Live participatory online sessions | Interactive online learning tools | Small team discussions | Online forum | 1-2-1 with Facilitators | Self-led learning and reflection | Facilitator Q&As | 10+ optional group events such as networking, film screenings, weekly regional reflections, and panel discussions
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Next course dates:
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April 19 - May 30, 2024
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2024 Brochure: Available here
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Over 1700 people have completed this course from more than 500 organisations
THE REASON
We’ve been destroying our world and its people for generations. The solutions we have been using are no longer enough. We have to do better, and we must act now. The Justice Based Approach will revolutionize the way you work on humanitarian, development, social change, and environmental justice initiatives in ways that will impact both your work and your life.
As we face a time of intense and rapid change, we must create space to step back and consider some of the most pressing issues facing the world. This course will explore new approaches, real life examples, tools, and perspectives that will re-energize you with new knowledge and skills, as well as renewed hope and direction.
RADICAL THINKING
You will develop the skills to think critically about the systemic challenges facing our sector and wider society and your role in solving them.
BRAVE LEADERSHIP
You will develop as a leader and become more effective in bringing about positive change and lasting impact.
TRANSFORMATIVE PROGRAMMING
You will develop your ability to ask challenging questions and utilize tools that will transform the way you design programmes, lead your teams and live your life.
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This course is participatory, innovative and proven to be incredibly impactful. Join us!
MORE DETAILS
THE COURSE
With a Justice Based Approach, we reflect on why -- after 25 years of rights-based approaches -- inequality, environmental destruction, oppression, and impunity are bigger challenges than ever before. We will critically challenge and explore many assumptions about methodology and practice in the following areas:
All Five Pillars of the Justice Based Approach
Power and oppression
Strategic and personal leadership
Effective programme design
Development theory and history
Evidence-based decision-making
Participatory approaches
System analysis
- Localization and decolonizing aid
Rights-based programming
Monitoring and evaluation for learning
Ethical programming and accountability
Climate and gender mainstreaming
We will also explore a number of innovative and exciting alternative approaches to social and environmental change that you can apply to your work.
The course will challenge you, inspire you and give you the tools to support communities and partners to lead change that is truly transformative.
PARTICIPANTS' VOICE
More than 70% of participants join from word of mouth. Here's what people are saying...
"The training offered me a new way of thinking. It challenged my assumptions and reinforced my belief that in my own sphere of influence I can make a great contribution to doing development differently. We sometimes underestimate our personal power to effect the changes that we desire."
Participant from British Council Philippines
"I never had any training like this before! It gives insights to see systems [and] development work differently, as well as helps individuals to think out-of-the-box."
Participant from United Nations FAO Bangladesh
"[The Justice Based Approach is] a way of planning, designing and delivering aid that takes into consideration the strengths and shortcomings of a Human Rights Based Approach, while challenging our current practices and preconceptions around existing models."
Participants from Action Against Hunger Myanmar
THE APPROACH
Our style of online delivery creates genuine human connection, facilitates deeply reflective and thoughtful discussions, and leads to real impact and effectiveness.
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The course uses mixed methodologies including participatory live sessions, interactive online tools, reflection, movement, games, small group discussions, an online forum, and self-led learning and reflection. Our facilitators run weekly Q&A sessions and you have the opportunity to book one-to-one calls with them throughout the course. We also send inspiring, short daily emails with additional resources for those that want more!
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Each week we also offer a variety of optional sessions to dive deeper into some of the key themes of the course, to have fun and get to know each other better. Previous sessions have included panel discussions, regional meetups, hackathons, and film screenings.
This course is designed and facilitated by United Edge co-founders Daniel Bevan and Matthew Kletzing. With combined experience of more than 30 years in the humanitarian, development and human rights sectors across Asia, the Pacific, Africa, and the Middle East, they bring a wealth of hands-on experience and expert facilitation skills. Find out more about their areas of expertise and background here.
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Our Facilitators are joined by a global group of Team Leaders, all of whom have completed the course previously and are experts in their field. They support small groups during the course to explore the themes in more depth during team discussions.
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We offer optional tailored mentoring programmes to provide personalized support during and after the course to put your learning into practice. For our course participants, this is 20-33% off our normal mentoring rates! You can add this to your booking here.​
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THE PARTICIPANTS
The course is for every humanitarian, development, social change, or environmental justice worker. It is relevant to anyone working in education, social work, public health and governance as well as corporate social responsibility, cooperatives, and social or environmental businesses. It’s for organisations and individuals, governments, activists, unions, leaders, thinkers, doers – anyone working for change.
A highlight of the course for many participants is the opportunity to connect with and learn from people from across the world. Our last round of courses had participants from over 70 countries!
We welcome participants from all levels of organizations and from diverse departments to the course, which creates a rich mix of experience and perspectives. We encourage senior staff to join the course with their teams. The course will be conducted in English.
THE PRICE
$595 USD, which includes:
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36 hours of live facilitated learning led by highly experienced facilitators with decades of combined experience in this field
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An orientation session to build confidence and skills in remote learning approaches
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Access to exclusive optional events throughout the duration of the course
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One-to-one discussions with course facilitators
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Ongoing small-team discussions and team events
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Daily emails with learning, reflection, and action suggestions based on each week's content
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Exclusive access to a JBA Foundation Course forum where participants can share and learn from one another
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Justice Based Approach Resource Pack, containing notes from every session and a pre-prepared presentation so that you can hold a sharing session back with your colleagues
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Justice Toolkit to help you reflect on your own work and embed the lessons from the course
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Ongoing access to our online community of social change makers, including frequent resource sharing and direct links to our regular learning events for ongoing professional development
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A certificate to verify your course completion and increase your job prospects
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Exclusive opportunity to join the Advanced Course on the Justice Based Approach and become a United Edge Associate
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GROUP RATE: $535 USD per person
Receive 10% off when you book 10 or more places on a course. Groups can be from multiple organisations if they book the course together. Donors and organisations have used this as an opportunity to support partners to attend.
One option we're offering larger organisations this year is to put together a cross-border group from their various country offices as a way not only to reduce costs but also increase impact. It's a wonderful way to learn and develop together as a team, and it can lead to a lot of "deep dive" conversations that continue long after the course ends. This makes sure that individual growth really leads to organisational learning and embedding the lessons from JBA.
As well as the group discount, we offer groups free bespoke reflection sessions after the course, the option for additional group mentoring (fees apply), and the option to have private facilitated group discussions throughout the course.
FINANCIAL ASSISTANCE
We proudly offer a limited amount of financial assistance to help cover part of the fee for people who may otherwise find it difficult to attend. Since 2017, we have provided almost $100,000 worth of financial assistance to participants, ensuring that grassroots and local organisations with limited funds and big aspirations can develop their work for greater impact and positive social change.
We strive to prioritize support for those from the majority world/global south, women, black and indigenous people, those from ethnic minorities, LGBTQIA+ people, young people, disabled people, refugees, and grassroots activists. However, we accept applications from anyone who is keen to learn about the approach!
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To apply for financial assistance, please contact us.
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OPTIONAL MENTORING
Tailored one-to-one mentoring is a great way to dive deeper. Our mentors are expert sounding-boards, sign-posters, and critical friends who will support you to apply JBA in your work and life. We also work with the incredible teachers from Upskilling for Change to provide English Language support through a lens of JBA to individuals and groups who need a little extra language support to get the most out of the course. Click here to register for these exclusive JBA Foundation Course packages (discounted 20-33%) or to find out more:
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During the course: 1 hour of private mentoring each week for six weeks ($300 USD, a 20% discount off normal rates)
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After the course: 1 hour of private mentoring each month for six months ($300 USD, a 20% discount off normal rates)
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Full package: 6 hours of sessions during the course and 6 hours after ($500 USD, a 33% discount off normal rates)
Bespoke package: Please get in touch!
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BOOKING YOUR PLACE
Places at the training are extremely limited and many of our courses get booked up quickly. Please book your place early to avoid missing out. ​
Please read the terms and conditions, including the cancellation policy, before booking.
MORE INFORMATION
Our 2024 course brochure is available here. If you'd like to read more about JBA you can check out our blog or download our Justice Toolkit. Once you book your place, you will receive an invoice. We accept payment by international bank transfer and credit card. If you need to pay another way, please get in touch and we will be happy to discuss other options.
If you have any further questions please read our FAQ page and don't hesitate to get in touch.
You can also read more about United Edge here, and hear directly from our participants here.
A MOVEMENT FOR JUSTICE
Here are just some of more than 500 amazing organisations that have attended this course.
