Raising Children

"Growing community is like growing food. It's a lot of work. You gotta till the soil. You gotta plant the seeds. You gotta have the right weather conditions. Community is just like that. You start with what you have...

Originally published on Sociocracy for All, this fascinating case study illustrates the capacity of children to act as effective, engaged decision-makers within their communities as well as the power of the governing tool sociocracy when employed at a neighborhood level.      The Dream,...

Mo•ai (/mo,eye/) Japan noun A group of lifelong friends A social support group that forms in order to provide varying support from social, financial, health, or spiritual interests Elders in Okinawa, Japan, one of the original blue zones longevity hotspots, live extraordinarily...

The Common Good podcast is a conversation about the significance of place, eliminating economic isolation and the structure of belonging. For this episode, John McKnight & Cormac Russell discuss their new book, The Connected Community: Discovering the Health, Wealth & Power...

The Common Good podcast is a conversation about the significance of place, eliminating economic isolation and the structure of belonging. This episode features the Abundant Community Conversation in November, 2022 in which Peter Block spoke with Jenn Hoos Rothberg, the...

For years, Abundant Community Edmonton has been steadily cultivating a citywide culture and ecosystem of neighborhood connection, caring and belonging, block by block. The founder, Howard Lawrence, was inspired by John and Peter's book The Abundant Community to take...

Modern culture has instilled in most of us an unchecked reverence for the idea of independence. It is a celebrated sign of maturity and accomplishment. A promised path to freedom, and a signal that we have arrived. Soulful teachers,...

The Dutch Association of Mayors invited me, as a representative of the Asset-Based Community Development Institute, to visit their 20 largest cities and share an asset-based approach with neighborhood leaders in each city. In one of the first cities I...

An urban neighborhood strengthens its community by asking unexpected questions The Learning Tree initiative takes a different route to enhancing community by focusing on talents and gifts — not poverty.   When faced with an inability to pay their rent, mortgage or...

Where lies the passage out of an economic and social system rooted in the illusion scarcity and competition, and into a system of living grounded in the reality of abundance and cooperation? Economist Dr. Olivia Saunders invites us to...