International Consortium for Social Development: Members’ Views and Future Directions

Abstract

This article aims to discuss members’ views about the past and current engagements and activities of the International Consortium for Social Development (ICSD), and the future directions and strategies. A survey method was used to collect data from the ICSD members by using the Survey Monkey software. Quantitative data analysis was limited to frequency distributions, and responses to open-ended questions were analysed by using the qualitative content analysis method. Further, these results were presented in a workshop to generate ideas for the future directions and strategies. Overall, the analysis showed that the members had positive perceptions of the ICSD in terms of meeting their expectations and conduct of activities according to its mission. Some of the critical issues and the future directions for the ICSD included relooking at the leadership, finance, membership, social development vision and knowledge building by research and scholarly activities and networking, education/curriculum programmes, conferences and practice projects, and activism and increasing visibility. The article argues that addressing these and similar issues is critical in maintaining and sustaining consortiums/professional bodies such as the ICSD. The findings and analysis have implications for improving and strengthening the ICSD and similar professional bodies.