Community Development Unit

University of Mons
18, Place du Parc
7000 Mons - Belgium

Secretariat

Tel: +32 (0) 65 37 31 10
Fax: +32 (0) 65 37 31 15

Head of Unit: Huguette Desmet (Personnel Directory)

The Community Development Unit develops its teaching and research in the field of family and school education with regard to how a family influences an individual's school and social adaptation. It also takes into account community space as school and family are not isolated entities; they are an integral part of the society, culture and community in which they develop.

The Unit pursues abundant research and research actions, which include intervening with families and in (particularly vulnerable) suburbs along with subsequent scientific analyses. Upon the creation of CREAS (Centre de Ressource Educative pour l'Action Sociale - Educational Resource Centre for Social Action) in 1995, the Unit developped social action, which answered a large request from professionals in this field. With its 2000 participants per year, the visibility of CREAS is already quite assured.

However, CREAS is an activity, among many others, which develops within the Unit. Ample research and research actions are undertaken within the Family and School Sociopedagogical Innovation Research Centre (CERIS), e.g. the co-education of family, school and society, the resilience of high potential children, the training of professionals to support high potential young people, the suffering of welfare workers, resilience paths and pre-natal education. Its priority is the fight against exclusion at school and society, and against all forms of violence.

CERIS was originally part of the International Association of Training and Research in Family Education (AIFREF), which organises a conference and brings out a journal, the “International Review of Family Education”, every other year. The president of CERIS is Jean-Pierre Pourtois.

Key words of the Unit are:

family - school - community - co-education - social action - development - prevention - good treatment - partnership - communication act.

Composition of the Unit

Instructors

DESMET Huguette, full professor
POURTOIS Jean-Pierre, university professor; operations manager alongside the Rector

Faculty Assistants

BURRICK Delphine
GLARNER Thierry

Research Scientists / Instructors

BRACONNIER Victor
DAUBECHIES Cindy
DELLA PIANA Vanessa
HORLIN Delphine
HUMBEECK Bruno
POURTOIS Nicolas

Research Collaborators

HARDY Frederic
HOUX Marcelle
MURILLO Augusto
ROUSSEAU Pierre
TROVATO Vincent
VAN DEN BOSSCHE Jean

Secretaries

DESROEUX Guy
FERRIERE Marylene
VULLO Josephine

Guest Professors (FNRS mandates for 2009-2010)

BOUCHARD Jean-Marie (University of Quebec, Montreal)
TERRISSE Bernard (University of Quebec, Montreal)