Events
John and Peter host periodic free conversations with social innovators on how they are working to create change in the world in local economies, education, health care and other domains of community life advancing the common good.
Reclaiming Freedom with David Cayley, Peter Block & John McKnight
John McKnight & Peter Block speak to David Cayley about his book Ivan Illich: An Intellectual Journey
Sept 21
1 PM ET
Drawing on David’s most recent book, Ivan Illich: An Intellectual Journey, this conversation will explore Illich’s understanding of free relatedness and it’s implications for communal life. This event will draw on poetry and music and attendees will be invited to be active participants in this emerging conversation.
David Cayley is a Canadian writer and broadcaster. He has produced and presented hundreds of radio documentaries, including two five-hour series with Ivan Illich, and published seven books, among them The Rivers North of the Future: The Testament of Ivan Illich & Ivan Illich: An Intellectual Journey.
The new format includes opportunities to engage with other participants and John, Peter and their guests. An interactive chat box also offers space to comment on the conversation, ask questions and share information with one another. You can also use the comment form on this website or go to the Abundant Community Facebook page to post any questions and insights you would like to share in advance.
It’s easy to participate after you register and download the Zoom software. If you can’t listen live, the conversations are archived for viewing or downloading later.
Reconnect! A Deepening Community Conversation
Join John and Peter on October 6 and 7 for a live online national conversation from Kitchener, Ontario, as Tamarack’s Learning Community convenes to discuss how we are going to rebuild social connection after the COVID pandemic.
The pandemic response in Canada was swift, and, given the severity of the situation unprecedented. Though on a technical level we were able to isolate to reduce the spread of the virus, we failed to effectively address the social condition of people. Some would say we were unprepared. People who were lonely became lonelier. Communities that were disconnected became more disconnected.
We will learn together with an unprecedented team of thought leaders from communities across North America that have innovative responses to COVID recovery and community building and have implemented effective social responses. We will learn about the unprecedented spontaneous uprising of everyday people taking action to support their neighbours.
A Build Back Better Conversation:
- What can we learn from forced social disconnection?
- What will the great reconnect look like and how do we help?
- Can we rebuild people’s trust in public spaces and community gatherings?
- Why building stronger neighbourhoods are so effective?
- Community health and the role that social connection plays in well-being.
- How do we strengthen civil society and collective action in our cities?
- Put community at the centre of our municipal recovery plans.
- Building back using an Asset-Based Community Development framework?
Calling All Connectors! ABCD Institute Online Training
ABCD for Common Wealth & Other Tales of Wonder
You are invited to a series of conversations over 6 sessions exploring principles and applications of Asset-Based Community Development in the community. We will engage in conversations around the many challenges we are facing today and the power of connection. This is an 18-hour series focused on building community resilience and a belief that what we need, is here.
Who Should Attend
People’s lives are transformed by ABCD and this series is for all connectors and those curious about the strength of their community.
Some of the tales shared and topics discussed may include:
- How might communities respond to crisis when resilience is under pressure?
- How might ABCD address income and race disparity?
- What are the ingredients in a community that can bring people together?
- What does it take to create a healthy community?
How can ABCD re-engage curiosity in the world and create belonging?
When & Where
This will be a virtual training via Zoom
North America –
Monday, October 4,11,18, 25 and
Monday November 8 and Friday November 12.
5:00-8:00 pm CST
Australia –
Tuesday, October 5, 12, 19, 26 and
Tuesday November 9 and Saturday November 13.
9:00 am – 12:00 pm AEDT
Workshop Leaders: Your storytellers will be three experienced ABCD Stewards affiliated with the ABCD Institute at DePaul University – Dee Brooks, Michelle Dunscombe and Joe Erpenbeck.
Past Event: Ritual & Possibility with Casper ter Kuile, Peter Block & Rabbi Terlinchamp
Join Casper ter Kuile, Rabbi Miriam Terlinchamp, Peter Block and other social innovators in this Abundant Community Conversation.
Drawing on Casper’s most recent book, The Power of Ritual: Turning Everyday Activities into Soulful Practices, and Peter’s Possibility conversation (in his book Community: The Structure of Belonging), this conversation will explore the possibilities present in ritual to transform our communities. Focusing on gift-mindedness and setting an intention to encounter and connect, this event will also draw on the poetry and practical experience of Rabbi Miriam Terlinchamp and attendees will be invited to be active participants in this emerging conversation.
Casper ter Kuile is helping to build a world of joyful belonging. In the midst of enormous changes in how we experience community and spirituality, Casper connects people and co-creates projects that help us live lives of greater connection, meaning, and depth. He is the author of The Power of Ritual (HarperOne) and the co-host of the award-winning podcast Harry Potter and the Sacred Text. He’s also a Ministry Innovation Fellow at Harvard Divinity School and the co-founder of startup Sacred Design Lab – a research and design consultancy working to create a culture of belonging and becoming. He co-authored “How We Gather” and his work has been featured in the New York Times, Vice, The Atlantic, and the Washington Post. He holds a Masters of Divinity and Public Policy from Harvard University, and before moving to the U.S. co-founded Campaign Bootcamp and the UK Youth Climate Coalition, both training and mobilizing young activists. He lives with his husband in Brooklyn, NY.
The new format includes opportunities to engage with other participants and John, Peter and their guests. An interactive chat box also offers space to comment on the conversation, ask questions and share information with one another. You can also use the comment form on this website or go to the Abundant Community Facebook page to post any questions and insights you would like to share in advance.
It’s easy to participate after you register and download the Zoom software. If you can’t listen live, the conversations are archived for viewing or downloading later.
Past Event: Community-Owned Health During a Pandemic with Dr. Deborah Puntenney
Dr. Deborah Puntenney spoke with Peter Block, John McKnight and other social innovators in this Abundant Community Conversation.
Moving beyond the traditional definition of community, Deborah spoke about her work applying asset-based community development principles with the Rochester Area Foundation in order to address the social determinants of health.
Deborah was a colleague of John McKnight and Jody Kretzmann at the Asset-Based Community Development Institute at Northwestern University for 25 years, and contributed broadly to the institute’s community-building research. In addition to authoring many of the institute’s publications, she has extensive experience working directly with community groups designing community-based participatory research projects, and partnering with them on the implementation of those efforts. Her research has taken her beyond the traditional definition of community, exploring the application of asset-based community development principles to nonprofit and philanthropic settings, as well as to specific areas of interest, including aging and health. Retired from the faculty at Northwestern in 2017, Deborah continues her work as an independent consultant, working primarily on projects in Rochester, NY. The Neighborhood Health Status Improvement Initiative, funded by the Greater Rochester Health Foundation, invites grantee communities to organize around the social determinants of health using an asset-based community development approach. Each community works from the grassroots to build a local health improvement plan that encompasses the physical, social, and economic determinants of health.
Common Good Collective: Abundant Community Conversations with John and Peter
The new format includes opportunities to engage with other participants and John, Peter and their guests. An interactive chat box also offers space to comment on the conversation, ask questions and share information with one another. You can also use the comment form on this website or go to the Abundant Community Facebook page to post any questions and insights you would like to share in advance.
It’s easy to participate after you register and download the Zoom software. If you can’t listen live, the conversations are archived for viewing or downloading later.
How to Register
You must register in advance for the Common Good Collective Abundant Community Conversations with John and Peter on Eventbrite.
Once registered, you will receive a confirmation email and then, a few days before the event, another email will be sent which will contain information about joining.
You will be able to join the conversation from your desktop, tablet or smartphone. For more detailed instructions on participating online, see the Zoom Help Center.
We will stream a moderated showing of the Conversation on the Abundant Community Facebook page a few days afterward. If you can’t join us live, you can see it on Facebook or in our archive here.
Earlier Conversations
The Neighborhood Is the Center
Ownership in a Future That Works for All
The Power of Disability
Journalism with Community at the Center
