We may be living longer, but people are more socially isolated than ever before. As a result, we are hindered both mentally and physically, and many of us are looking for something concrete we can do to address problems like poverty, racism, and climate change. What if solutions could be found on your very doorstep or just two door knocks away?

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Phenomenology of Conversation with David Whyte & Peter Block

Thurs, Sept. 15, 2022

What happens when you try to have a real conversation and why are they so difficult? How are silence and vulnerability forms of invitation to authentic encounter? Does anyone survive a real conversation? David Whyte speaks with Peter Block and Rabbi Miriam Terlinchamp about the phenomenology of conversation. This event drew upon David’s poetry and attendees were invited to be active participants in this emerging conversation.

About David:

David Whyte’s writing explores the timeless relationship of human beings to their world, to creation, to others, and to the end of life itself. He makes his home in the Pacific Northwest, where rain and changeable skies remind him of the other, more distant homes from which he comes: Yorkshire, Wales and Ireland. He has traveled extensively, including working as a guide in the Galapagos and leading trips into the Himalaya; much of his work chronicles a close relationship to landscapes and histories. He speaks to the suffering and joy that accompany revelation, and the necessity of belonging to families, people and places.

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, 2021

Drawing on David’s most recent book, Ivan Illich: An Intellectual Journey, this conversation explore Illich’s understanding of free relatedness and its 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. 

Reconnect!: Making Community Essential

  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?

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. 

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. 

Community-Owned Health During a Pandemic with Dr. Deborah Puntnenney, Peter Block & John McKnight

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.

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 most conversations are released through the Common Good Podcast in the following months.

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.

If you can’t join us live, you can see it in our archive below or on the Common Good Podcast.