Hi Peter. They may have only been looking at formal associations, and only those with the word "association" in their description, or their name. Other associations were perhaps described as clubs, or as activities. The best way to identify informal associations might be some version of appreciative inquiry, rather than searchable databases.
Hi Rachel. You might want to look at Luther snow's book, The Power of Asset Mapping: How Your Congregation Can Act on its Gifts. https://luthersnow.com/publications.html#power-of-asset-mapping
Luther has been working with congregations for years.
Hi Megan. I like small maps. I would try to start with a tangible desired outcome. For example, a map with strategies to raise money for school supplies will look very different compared to a map around after school activities, or mentoring. Create maps focused on connecting, and mobilizing capacities to achieve specific outcomes, as opposed to creating a static inventory.
Hi Ivis. Years ago, before the advent of the mobile phone camera, a friend of mine bought a bunch of disposable cameras and gave them to a group of youth in the neighborhood. She told them to take photos of "good things in their neighborhood." They took photos of people and places that mad them feel safe and welcome. It was a visual asset map of sorts. This exercise demonstrated the ways that a sense of place is related to individual, and shared values. A great follow-up question might be: What would you have liked to take a photo of, but you couldn't because it no longer exists? Ask them if given the same assignment, what do they think elected officials, or real estate developers would take photos of.
Hi Peter. I don't know if headings or categories are as important as describing your experience in terms of building relationships, since relationships are at the core of ABCD. ABCD also about discovery. You might find a way to articulate your experience in getting something done with the tools/assets at your disposal.
Renewing the Countryside https://www.renewingthecountryside.org/ is a nonprofit organization with loads of stories and ideas around rural community and economic development.
Here is a rural case study (see attachment) that I wrote a few years back. It shows how a student at a small rural campus helped a small group of women in a small, rural town improve their community.
[quote="Derek A Peterson"]
From the Internet: https://brainly.ph/question/12360251
5 differences and 5 similarities between rural and urban livelihoods:
Differences between rural and urban livelihoods:
1)Rural livelihoods are based upon primary activities like farming and fishing.Urban livelihoods are based upon secondary and tertiary activities like manufacturing and services.
2)Rural livelihood involves living with and being sustained by nature.Urban is city based living and involve a range of activities like IT,jobs in the government or private sector,clerial and professional jobs.Urban areas have a large migrant population.
3)People generally inherit jobs in rural areas like carpenter,blacksmith etc.In urban areas job inheritance is not common.
4)Rural areas provide less opportunity to earn income as compared with urban areas.
5)Rural areas lack industries, infrastructure which is found in urban areas.
Similarities between rural and urban livelihoods:
1)Poverty continue to exist in both rural and urban areas.
2)Some common jobs continue to exist in rural and urban areas like teachers,shopkeepers,traders,barbers though scale of operation may differ.
3)Daily wage laborers exist in rural areas who may be employed in farms and urban areas they employed in a factory.
4)Women constitute a major work force in rural and urban areas.Though, in the former they are engaged in agriculture and in the latter in professions like teachings,IT,medicine,BPO's.
5)Both rural and urban areas will have dependent, population not engaged in any work that is elderly population and children.
[/quote] This list contains a number of false assumptions. Rural is not always agrarian. Rural economies are not all "sustained by nature." There are a substantial number of rural places supporting jobs in manufacturing, IT, and professional services. The amount of 'inherited' job or business succession in rural areas is not significantly different from that in urban areas.
I would suggest that the most significant difference between rural and urban, is political power and influence. I live in a state where three-fourths of the population lives in one-fourth of the geography. This creates an urban bias in the decision making of elected officials. Therefore, rural gets less public investment.
Hi Alan,
I have spent countless hours pondering the intersection of ABCD and educational civic engagement. A number of years ago a colleague and I wrote a book called, "Asset-Based Community Engagement in Higher Education." If you'd like, you can email me through my website https://leadingdifferently.com/ and I'll send you a pdf version of that book. You can also ask me questions on the topic at any time.
John Hamerlinck
Eddy, It is difficult for me to offer a whole lot without more details about what you're actually trying to accomplish, or the nature of your organization. If your organization is deeply rooted in an "expert" model of problem solving, you might identify an issue or challenge that your members frequently face, and try to identify ways to avoid that reoccurring phenomenon by engaging in some appreciative inquiry around that issue, as opposed to looking for a "best practice" that will work for most people. For me, ABCD is an approach that recognizes the critical context, and insight of non-experts who need solutions not available to them via current programs or policies. These folks often have great ideas for multivariant solutions that emerge once they stop focusing primarily of their deficits.
morris-case-study.pdf - 511KB