Coming soon . . .
Conversation with John and Peter: Building a Healthy and Just Community
May 29th at 1:00 EDT
John and Peter's special guest will be Mike Butler, Fire and Police Chief of Longmont, CO, who will talk about the role of police and fire departments in building a healthy and just community and describe ways to create a community that welcomes people on the margin. Details at Events.
Less Leadership and More in the Name of Sophia
By Peter Block
Suppose that instead of focusing on the functions and actions of leaders, we drew more on Sophia, symbol of feminine wisdom and gifts? Emerging leadership may be more about trust in the actions of ordinary people.
Learning from Other Neighborhoods
John McKnight video by Peter Block
Who did it? Are they like me? John tells why these questions home in on reasons why learning from other neighborhoods is more effective in community building than professional intervention.
Beyond Skate Parks: Transforming Communities with Teens
By Laura Fulton
Five ways to harness the energy of teens in our communities.
Designing to Belong (Not Just to Be)
How a front-porch addition created a lot more community on architect Randy Ripley’s street and inspired him to ask: How can I design spaces to create an invitation to connect with others and provide an opportunity for people to engage one another?…
Building Community with Portable Brick Ovens
With their signature portable brick ovens, "People from all over a neighborhood can come and bake and share stories," says one of the oven builders. It’s all a lot more about building community than baking bread.…
Stories from the Lathrup Village Time Bank
It's fun and it's cheap . . . and a great way to use people's gifts and create a community of people helping each other.…
Adelita’s Gift: The Value of Asking the Right Questions
by Mike Mather
Pastor Mike Mather of Broadway United Methodist Church in Indianapolis tells how one of his congregations discovered Adelita’s gift and got “a lotta great food” as a bonus.…
Civic Action in Sarasota County, Florida
by Mike McGrath
How citizens and activists in Sarasota County, FL changed the conversation from “The County should ….” to “How can I have the capacity to make a difference in my own neighborhood?"…
Discovering Others’ Gifts: Re-humanizing Our Communities
by Rex Lai
A report from one of the recorders for the historic February 17-19 Core Change Cincinnati Summit developed to address numerous aspects of urban living including housing, the economy, safety and education.…
Libraries Leading Community
by Laura Fulton
Libraries are getting more and more creative in coming up with ways to build communities around them. Read about six innovative strategies that might work in your neighborhood.…
Community Abundance Is Its Gifts
In sharing our gifts in associational life, we have the power to produce the future we envision. We are not consumers. We are not clients. We are citizens with the power to make powerful communities.…
The Club Is Not the Club
by Peter Block
There's more to your local book club, dog club or poker club than books, dogs or cards. Peter reminds us of the power such associations can bring into neighborhood life. All we have to do is ask.…
This Land Is My Land
John tells of wonderful possibilities like community ovens when neighbors decide for themselves how to use public lands.…
The Point Is the Place
by Peter Block
The more we know and care about the place where we are, the more likely we are to do the functions that neighborhoods are meant to do.…
Citizen Cop Out
So many community meetings are often a time of blaming and finger-pointing — a way for citizens to cop out. John asks in this short clip, What would you do differently?…
Download or listen to "No More Throw-Away People," John and Peter's hour-long April 2 Conversation with social activist and timebanking inventor Edgar Cahn.
John and Peter have posted new questions at Citizen Cop Out, Vollmer's List, Adelita's Gift, and Civic Action in Sarasota Co. to invite comments and spark conversations.
Peter and economist Olivia Saunders talk about How to Create Abundance and Eliminate Scarcity with blogtalkradio host Robert Thompson.
Don't miss . . .
John's four-part ABCD 101 video covers the five basic building blocks of asset based community development, how to do neighborhood asset mapping, and other principles and practices that set ABCD apart from needs-based approaches.
Recommended links to online food resources and more in John's post on food, culture and community.
