1. Church and Civil Society

A. Diakonia
Goal
The participant is able to formulate and communicate his/her view on diakonia and development as a part of the mission of the church. The participant will visit different organizations working with diaconal and social issues and get inspiration and concrete ideas for diaconal projects, which can be carried out through congregations and church based NGOs.

Topics included
- Definitions of diakonia
- Diaconal aspects of Old Testament
- Diakonia in New Testament
- Jesus the deacon – a role model in meeting and serving people
- A biblical view of a human being, diakonia and the Gospel
- Historical perspectives on diakonia
- Diaconal reflections of own work, church or organization
- Diakonia in practice - visiting different organizations
- The Church in a global context
- International Diakonia

B. Civil Society
Goal
The participant gets an understanding of the fundamental concepts of citizen participation, civil society, rights-based development and the importance of church and church based NGOs taking an active role in civil society in relation to the UN-goals 2015. The participant will meet key persons from different organizations working in the area of development work and get inspiration and concrete ideas for development projects, which can be carried out through congregations and church based NGOs.

Topics included
- Social capital and development
- Citizen participation, rights and Civil Society
- Biblical basis of rights-based development with focus on children
- Inclusive education, advocating disabled children and working in fragile countries
- UN-goal 1: Eradicate extreme poverty & hunger
- UN-goal 2: Achieve universal primary education
- UN-goal 3: Promote gender equality and empower woman
- UN-goal 5: Improve maternal health
- UN-goal 4: Reduce child mortality
- UN-goal 6: Combat HIV/AIDS, malaria and other diseases
- UN-goal 7: Ensure environmental sustainability
- UN-goal 8: Develop a global partnership for development
- Visiting churches and church related NGOs taking an active role in civil society

C. Dialoque with Authorities and Media
Goal
The participant is able to work on positive changes in society by engaging in a constructive dialogue with authorities. Furthermore the participant will get concrete tools and ideas for raising awareness about development issues and how to speak up on behalf of the poor and marginalized based on examples from ‘best practices’ in concrete diaconal/development work.

Topics included
- NGOs and churches as agents of change in civil society
- Constructive dialogue with authorities and rights based development
- Constructive dialogue with authorities- process, tools and dilemmas
- Documentation, campaigning and lobbying
- The cycle of constructive dialogue
- Media
- Practical tools for PR as e.g. how to make a press release etc.

D. Study Trip to Copenhagen
Goal
The participant gets practical insight into the work of Danish church based NGOs working with development, diakonia and dialogue with authorities.
In the capital of Denmark the participants will visit the Danish parliament, Christiansborg, in order to discuss development and social issues with one of the Members of Parliament. Furthermore the participants will visit different development and diaconal organizations to get acquainted with them and their working methods.

Topics included
- Dialogue with authorities
- Project Work
- Organizational Management
- Church and Civil Society

E. Interfaith Dialogue
Goal
Through meeting and exchanging experiences and opinions with people of different faith and cultural background the participant gain insight and understanding of other people´s faith, values and ideas. This enables the participant to network with people of different denominations, thus being more effective in impacting his/her local community. Through the subject Biblio-drama the participant is challenged to reflect on biblical truths in new and creative ways and thereby develops a deeper understanding of his/her own faith.

Topics included
- Interfaith meetings and religious dialogue
- Biblio-drama


2. Project Work
Goal
The participant will attain the ability to plan, monitor and evaluate development activities on the basis of a comprehensive overview of all aspects of a typical project cycle. The course focuses on project planning, using an adapted version of the logical framework approach (LFA), employed by Danish Ministry of Foreign Affairs (DANIDA), and a number of Danish NGOs, as well as other objective oriented planning tools.

Topics included
- Project cycle management
- LFA
- Participatory methods in project design
- Project economy
- Fundraising
- Donors and donors' policy
- Monitoring
- Organizational self-evaluation
- Project Work focusing on children and youth
- Development projects – seen from a donor´s perspective


3. Organizational Management

A. Organization and Leadership
Goal
The participant is able to take on responsibilities of management and leadership in organizations working with diaconal/ development work.

Topics included
- Defining organization and leadership
- Organizational assessment - vision, strategy, SWOT, changes
- Human Resource - recruitment, competence development
- Human Resource - capacity building, development of HR, teambuilding
- Leadership skills - different leadership types and tests
- Working with volunteers – motivation, involvement
- Partnership and networking 
- How do we use the things, we have learned

B. Value-based Leadership
Goal
The participant is inspired to continue developing leadership qualities and abilities and to go home and facilitate diaconal/ development work on the basis of diaconal values.

Topics included
- Leading with a serving attitude
- Value-based teamwork
- Handling leadership conflicts
- Confidence-building leadership
- Leadership development
- The personal life of a leader
- Women in leadership
- Coaching
- The personal life of a leader

C. Communication and Counseling
Goal
The participant is able to support and communicate effectively with support co-workers, volunteers and beneficiaries within their organizations Personal non-judgmental communication skills and basic counseling will be introduced and trained through theory and role play.

Topics included
- Cross cultural communication
- “Giraffe language”/Non-violent Communication
- Communication and counseling
- Communication and conflict 

D. Presentation Skills
Goal
The participant is able to communicate effectively with an audience, whether addressing potential sponsors or volunteers about the importance of his/her work, giving a short devotion to different age groups or preparing an entertaining program. It will all be trained through practical exercises.

Topics included
- Communicating with an audience
- Presenting your work
- Communicating with young people
- Preparing the Farewell Party

E. Danish Study Week in a Local Community
Goal
The participant gets insight into citizien participation and organizational values and praxis in a local Danish community. Through home stay with a Danish family and a planned program in the local area they will get an understanding of how the Danish society is organized – in families, churches, schools, public institutions and voluntarily social organizations, as well as gain inspiration to use for future diaconal/ development work. Afterwards they will reflect on what, they have experienced, in a written assignment. The Danish Study Week is, whenever possible, planned by or in co-operation with the participant´s sponsoring organization.

Topics included
- Organizational Management
- Church and Civil Society
- Project Work


4. Other Subjects

A. Introduction to The Diaconal College and Denmark
The participant gets introduced to rules and daily life at the college as well as a short introduction to Denmark and the Danes.

B. Study Skills
The participant gets acquainted with the "Danish" methods of teaching with emphasis on student participation, group work, homework etc. The participant will through different exercises be introduced to Power Point and our expectations, when it comes to written assignments.

C. Family Time
Every second week the participants have a “Family time”, where life and faith is shared and common issues discussed.

D. Farewell Party 
At the end of the course the participants are responsible for a Farewell Party, where friends, partners, hosts from the Danish study week as well as teachers and students from the Diaconal College are invited.

E. Re-entry
The participant is prepared to meet possible challenges and difficulties connected with returning to his/her home countries and to his/her sending organizations.

F. Evaluation
Each module will be evaluated together as a class and through individually written reports. These reports will be sent to our partner organizations and will be used for adjusting the curriculum. A year after completing the course the participant should expect to be asked to write an evaluating report on his/her benefit from participating in the course.

G. End of Term
Finishing the course together and leaving the school as received.