ABCD - Asset Based Community Development
A little while ago I raised Asset Based Community Development (ABCD) with President Robert and the prospect of our Club becoming the ABCD lead agency in Redlands. I was asked to write a paper (see attached) for the Board's consideration. When Tracey became Community Services Director we were invited to explore the idea together.
Our initial thoughts are that ABCD is not so much a single or standalone project nor is it just for one Committee or individual but rather a lens through which we view all Club activities i.e. focus on strengths and making and leveraging connections across the whole Redlands. The goal here is to increase Rotary impact by broadening our base rather than increasing our workload. It's reality a "getting back to basics" or "return to first principles" given Rotary's history. There's tons of amazing stuff happening in Redlands but rarely do we as a City connect and leverage these assets (people, environment, buildings, funds, organisations etc.).
At its last meeting the Board approved the Club further exploring ABCD. We plan to begin the discussion with members next Tuesday night to ascertain their interest. But before that we wanted to touch base with you to share some information on ABCD. I know folk process information differently and have different amounts of spare time, so below are a few links: one to a website with dot points, one to a video, one to a more detailed website, one to the book that started it all (free download), one to a short briefing paper:
- The ABCD Institute and the values behind ABCD: https://resources.depaul.edu/abcd-institute/about/Pages/Values.aspx
- An explanation of ABCD and its component parts: https://www.nurturedevelopment.org/asset-based-community-development/
- ABCD founder John McKnight video explaining ABCD and social innovation: https://vimeo.com/72047291
- Asia Pacific ABCD crew: http://jeder.com.au/abcdasiapacific/
- ABCD Briefing Paper: https://resources.depaul.edu/abcd-institute/resources/Documents/WhatisAssetBasedCommunityDevelopment.pdf
- The original book that started it all downloadable for free: https://resources.depaul.edu/abcd-institute/publications/Pages/basic-manual.aspx
Your thoughts and input would be much appreciated. If you'd like to discuss this further, don't hesitate to give me a call anytime on 0400 531 837. I'm off now to pull together a presentation from these materials for Tuesday's meeting! I look forward toa good yarn as a Club!
Thank you.
Pace e bene,
Daniel+