Life is about using the whole box of crayons

Workshop leader: Martin Simon

Workshop description:

Asset Based Community Development is a new and dynamic approach to building community which focuses on what is strong, not on what is wrong. We know that the power of what we have grows when we act intentionally and collectively to re-connect people and help them form deeper, caring relationships in the places where they live. We believe there is no force for social change as powerful as a community that discovers what it cares about.

Collective responsibility and self-organisation do not happen by themselves and are often inadvertently harmed by corporate, governmental and academic institutions who, in the name of helping communities, would have us believe that people are selfish and communities too broken to flourish without professional interventions. We assert that the only people who can build communities are the people who live and work there and that there is an abundance of skills and connections ready to be shared when we invest in local inventiveness.

Who is it for?

Social activists and innovators, citizens, volunteers, front-line practitioners, managers, opinion formers, policy makers and good neighbours.

What are the aims?

The workshop will act as an introduction to the theory and practice of Asset Based Community Development, with the intention of improving participants’ capacity to act in solidarity with others,  build communities and campaign for social justice .