Small World...

So...I'm back in Blighty and am delighted to see there's been some discussion around Asset Based Community Development (ABCD) here in the UK whilst I've been away.

The Big Lottery Fund (who also fund the Altogether Better programme in Yorkshire and Humber) brought together ABCD practitioners for a half-day seminar in London on 20th June as part of their 'People Powered Change' work. Over 80 community activists and other professionals gathered to hear the speakers and to discuss the issues which ABCD  raises.

 

So, whilst I was away learning about ABCD in Canada - Jim Diers (who I had the pleasure of meeting in Seattle) was in the UK talking about ABCD. It does feel like a small world sometimes...!

You can see an interview with Jim where he says:

"there is a lot of great work happening [in the UK] in the public health arena around building on community strengths"

I think Altogether Better is a great example of this kind of work! Our work on identifying social capital indicators has also been about identifying assets in communities (e.g. social networks, friendships, skills and knowledge, participation in volunteering, social support....I could go on!).

You can view Jim's inspiring and engaging presentations from the event (and those from other speakers) on the Guardian website.