Institute of Technology Blanchardstown (Ireland)

The Institute of Technology Blanchardstown (ITB) is a small higher education institute, established in 1999 and located in the West of Dublin, Ireland.  ITB was established with the specific remit of increasing the participation rate in higher education in a part of the city that was under-represented.  Due to its mission and location, ITB has been committed to strengthening its civic roles and social responsibilities.  Some examples of the programs at ITB include:

• Horticulture students have, under the guidance of faculty, designed and built gardens in the grounds of a local hospital and are currently in the process of extending this initiative.

• ITB Applied Social Care lecturers have developed a programme with a Dublin based charity, the Daughters of Charity (http://www.daughtersofcharity.ie/) to provide education, training and life skills to learners with intellectual difficulties.  The programme brings learners into a higher education environment in which they are supported by students of the Applied Social Care programme, lecturers and staff across the institute and actively participate alongside other learners across disciplines at ITB.
• ITB recently completed a 12 week programme in Health and Wellbeing aimed at older adults in the Dublin 15 area.  This programme was delivered through a module taken in semester 1 of the Sports Management and Coaching programme (Coaching Special Populations).  The delivery of this programme was stimulated by a need identified by local government in the area and lecturers developed the programme in conjunction with Fingal County Council, students, and the older adult groups in the Dublin 15 area.  This was a very successful programme that will be extended in the coming semester.

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