There are so many resources on Asset-Based Community Development (ABCD) for professionals. We decided to write one specifically for residents, called Asset-Based Community Development - How to Get Started.
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Having immersed myself in the Asset Based Community Development world, in my previous role in public health, and now at Tamarack, I keep seeing and hearing the same questions over and over. Is ABCD an inclusive process? How do you make ABCD address diversity? These questions have made me think about ABCD and does the approach address diversity and inclusion?
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“There is no way to community; community is the way.”
These were among the words that greeted me on the first morning of ABCD Healthy Neighbourhoods Healthy Cities in Edmonton in May 2019. From the very first keynote speaker, Prof. John McKnight, to the last words spoken on the third day, I was hooked. I couldn’t get enough. Often when attending conferences and seminars, I walk away with new knowledge and tools to apply in my work. This was more. I walked away from this immersive learning experience looking not only at my professional role differently, but my personal life as well. How could I help my community thrive? Do I know my neighbours? How can I get to know them better? Attending this event has impacted me in many different facets. Here are my biggest takeaways from those three amazing days:
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Over time, the structure and dynamics of rural communities have changed. Services have moved from local to regional, young residents are moving away, long-term residents are decreasing, and new residents are coming into the community. In the past, rural communities knew how to use the Asset-Based Community Development (ABCD) approach naturally. But with changing times, how can they focus their assets to build community?
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I love new approaches and ways to improve how I do my community work. Here are three approaches that work well to better your community work.
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I am taking part in my first book club and we are reading John McKnight and Peter Block’s book, The Abundant Community, Awakening the Power of Families and Neighbourhoods. A few chapters in and I have gone from confusion to amazement in my thinking process.
When we are born, we start our lives as citizens of our family and community, and slowly become consumers of products, services and systems that lead us to believe we are better off and safer. When we think like a system we tend to identify the problem by labeling a specific target - for example, the ‘youth problem’ - however, John and Peter point out that it is not the youth with the problem but the neighbourhood and community.
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