Building capacity to create a better world.
All of us want to see the world become a better place. We look forward to a future when universal peace has been established and the human family lives in harmony. Such a future is not a dream and can be built as more and more of us exert effort to contribute to the betterment of the world. Deep in our hearts each of us has the desire to serve our communities. What we need is to develop our capacity to undertake selfless acts of service for the common good.
The Training Institute of Ontario is an institution dedicated to learning about the betterment of the world. It offers courses that strengthen our capabilities to serve the community.
“The betterment of the world can be accomplished through pure and goodly deeds, through commendable and seemly conduct.”
How the work unfolds
Four interlocking movementsA neighbourhood gathers
A children's class begins in a home. Devotional gatherings open the door to a wider circle. A junior youth group walks home from school together. From these humble beginnings, a pattern of community life takes shape.
See the activities
Capacities are built
Through a sequence of institute courses, friends gain the knowledge, the spiritual insights, and the practical skills to host these activities themselves — and, in time, to accompany others to do the same.
Explore the materials
Young people lead
At the heart of every flourishing neighbourhood is a cohort of young people who have decided that their school years and talents will be spent in service to others.
Read more on the role of youth
Society begins to feel it
Bonds across difference deepen. Families act together. Service projects emerge. Schools, neighbours, and local agencies take notice of, and begin to participate in, the work. A new pattern of life is being woven.
See accounts from across Ontario
The contribution made by the followers of Bahá'u'lláh is distinguished by its focus on building capacity for service; it is an approach founded on faith in the ability of a population to become the protagonists of their own development.
The Universal House of Justice, 30 December 2021
In each Ontario neighbourhood the work takes a particular shape — but everywhere, the underlying conviction is the same: that ordinary people, accompanied by friends, can become the architects of their own communities' progress.
The activities of the Training Institute are open to all.
You don't need to be a Bahá'í to begin. Anyone who wishes to take part — as a participant, a host, a friend, or a partner - is welcome. There may be something already happening near you.
“The purpose for which mortal men have, from utter nothingness, stepped into the realm of being, is that they may work for the betterment of the world and live together in concord and harmony.” — Bahá'u'lláhGet involved