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TOOL | How to Use a Capacity Inventory

Tools, Community Innovation, Cities Reducing Poverty, Cities Deepening Community

Asset-Based Community Development is an approach that considers local assets to be the primary building blocks for developing strong, sustainable communities. Drawing on the skills of local residents, the power of local associations, and the supportive functions of local institutions, asset-based community development identifies and mobilizes existing community strengths to build stronger communities for the future.

Asset Mapping is an important activity in asset-based community development which emphasizes identifying community strengths rather than needs. A Capacity Inventory tool is one of the primary ways that communities can begin to identify and map their strengths and assets. This resource provides a how-to for using the capacity inventory for mapping community assets.
John Kretzmann & John McKnight

By John Kretzmann & John McKnight

John Kretzmann (Jody) is Co-Director of the Asset-Based Community Development (ABCD) Institute,Photo of John Kretzmann a research project of the Institute for Policy Research at Northwestern University. ABCD Institute works with community-building leaders across North America to conduct research, produce materials and otherwise support community-based efforts to rediscover local capacities and to mobilize citizens' resources to solve problems.

John McKnight is Co-Director of the Asset-Based Development Community Development Institute and Professor Emeritus of Communications Studies and Education and Social Policy at Northwestern University in Evanston, IL. For more than four decades at the University his research focused on social service delivery systems, health policy, community organization, neighborhood policy and the incorporation of labeled people into community life.

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