1. “Sustainable Living Series”
Asset Based Community Development
Simple to Understand
Applicable to blighted communities, developing nations – and many dysfunctional environments
John McKnight is emeritus professor of education and social policy and codirector of the Asset-Based Community Development Institute at Northwestern University

2. Social Mapping for Solutions
What is social mapping?
Social mapping is a visual method of showing the relative location of households. and the distribution of different types of people (such as male, female, adult, child, landed, landless, literate, and illiterate) together with the social structure and institutions of an area.

3. Creating Models for Livable Long-Term Solutions
Traditional Needs Assessment is one way…the old way

4. Remember the Power “Framing”
…and flexible thinking

5. Urban neighborhood “needs” map – traditional example
Unemployment
Homelessness
Broken Families
Slum Housing
Graffiti
Illiteracy
Gangs
Child Abuse
Mental Disability
Crime
Welfare Recipients
Drugs
Dropouts

6. Consequences of needs map
Local residents internalize “deficiencies”
Local relationships are destroyed
Funds are directed to professional helpers, not residents
Leaders magnify and exploit deficiencies
Failure is often rewarded (public aid cheaters/exploiters and so on)
Dependency is perpetuated

7. Neighborhood assets map as contrast to “needs” map
Local Institutions
Businesses
Schools
Citizen Associations
Churches
Block Clubs
Individual Gifts
Seniors
Parks
Income
Youth
Volunteer Groups
Artists
Cultural Groups
Hospitals
Colleges

8. Successful community building
Citizen-led
Asset-based
Relationship-driven
Internally-focused
Comprehensive

9. Community-building paradigm
Old
Focus on deficits
More services
Problem response
Focus on individuals
Maintenance
See people as clients
Fix people
Programs are the answer
Emphasis on agencies
Charity orientation
New
Focus on assets
Fewer services
Opportunity identification
Focus on community
Development
See people as citizens
Develop potential
People are the answer
Emphasis on associations
Investment orientation

10. Community assets
Institutions
Associations
Individuals

11. Individuals assets Talents Skills Creativity Culture Sense of history
Time
Enthusiasm
Relationship & networks
Income
“Every living person has some gift or capacity of value to others. A strong community is a place that recognizes those gifts and ensures that they are given.”
− Building Communities from the Inside Out,
Kretzmann & McKnight, 1993

12. Associational assets Councils Block clubs Church groups Sports teams
“The basic community organization for empowering individuals and mobilizing their capacities is the association. An association is a group of citizens working together. An association is an amplifier of the gifts, talents and skills of individual community members.”
− Building Communities from the Inside Out,
Kretzmann & McKnight, 1993
Councils
Block clubs
Church groups
Sports teams
Business groups
Political groups
Service clubs
Exercise groups
Arts organizations

13. Local institutional assets
“Every community hosts some combination of more formal, public, private and non-profit institutions. Since these institutions represent significant concentrations of resources, local neighborhoods have begun to capture them for community-building purposes.”
− Building Communities from the Inside Out,
Kretzmann & McKnight, 1993
Parks
Libraries
Schools
Colleges
Hospitals
Churches
Social service agencies
Police

14. From AB (Asset Based) to CD (Community Development)
ABCD Principles
Organizing Organizations
Community Building Tools
Citizen-Led
Asset Based
Relationship Centered
Internally Focused
Investment Oriented
Comprehensive
Membership Supported
Egalitarian / Open
Driven by Principles
Growth Oriented
Action Oriented
Collaborative
Empowered
Independent of Institutional Control
Self-Sustaining
Individual Development Accounts
Neighborhood Develop. Trusts
Asset I.D. and Mobilization
Grants for Blocks
Community-School Partnerships
Land Trusts
Neighborhood Newspapers
Neighborhood Networks
Community Resource Centers

15. Mobilizing community assets
Local Institutions
External Institutions
Associations
Individuals

16. Remember the example of Greensburg, Kansas.