ABCD in Action has a new look!
Visit ABCD in Action to see the clean new design and improved ease of use. We also have a new tab on the ABCD Institute website to move directly from the website to ABCD in Action.
ABCD in Action Global Gatherings
ABCD in Action continues to offer ABCD Global Gatherings each month. Upcoming topics:
- Community Economic Development: October 13* and October 20*
- ABCD and Older Adults: November 16* and November 18*
*The Gatherings will focus on the same question. Please register for only one of these
Do you have ideas for future Gatherings? Let us know!
The ABCD Global Gatherings are a benefit of being a member of ABCD in Action. If you have any questions about joining ABCD in Action, feel free to contact Deb Wisniewski at abcd@abcdinaction.org
NEW: Video Book on Community Security
The ABCDI Community Security workgroup received a grant from the Polk Bros. Foundation to create a series of video books on community security. Please widely share this newest in depth interview with visionary former Police Chief Mike Butler. Mike is Interviewed by John McKnight and Albert Dzur:
An ABCD Visionary - The Transformation of the Functions of Communities and Police: An interview with Retired Chief Mike Butler, Longmont, Colorado (Video, 2021)
A note from John McKnight about the interview
ABCD’s Founding Researchers
John McKnight has been cleaning out his basement files and look what he found: In 1989 a team of researchers began an international study of successful neighborhood initiatives that used local resources. The result was our publication - Building Communities From the Inside Out (the Green book) that was published in 1993. The team photo above includes four faculty members from the Center for Urban affairs at Northwestern University. They are Charles Payne, Jody Kretzmann, Stan Hallett and John McKnight as well as graduate assistants and researchers from neighborhoods.
International Association for Community Development (IACD) Lifetime Achievement award given to ABCD Institute Founders John McKnight and Jody Kretzmann
Congratulations to John McKnight and Jody Kretzmann and all the ABCD Stewards. Jody accepted via a pre-recorded video clip and thanked IACD for their ongoing work and John attended live and accepted on behalf of all the ABCD Institute Stewards and practitioners in the ABCD movement, which says so much about both of their characters and their belief in the power of community!
Read More | Read Story in Evanston Round Table Newspaper
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ABCD INSTITUTE STEWARD NEWS
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ABCD Institute Steward Ruben Medina is running for City Council in Aurora, Colorado
From Ruben: I am running for city council in Aurora, Co. to be a servant leader. I will be utilizing the many gifts of community to help create a partnership that I feel is missing. We as a community are all responsible for the actions in our community and we must join forces to utilize the many opportunities for us to have a viable, just, equitable city for all our community members to thrive and prosper. READ MORE
Why Do Gifts Matter?
In May, eight ABCD Institute Stewards gathered with Bruce Anderson of the Core Gifts Institute for a workshop on gifts. The first questions was “Why do gifts matter?”.
Here is what they said.
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STORIES, BLOGS, PODCASTS & TOOLS
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BLOGS, STORIES, ARTICLES & PUBLICATIONS
PODCASTS AND VIDEOS
The Neighboring Movement Podcast with ABCD Institute Steward Dee Brooks
Join The Neighboring Movement’s Adam Barlow-Thompson and Matthew Johnson in their discussion with Dee entitled “Let the Dog Go.”
Listen to the podcast here
What surprised me about my Core Gift?
Deb Everley, Executive Director of Kenora Association for Community Living, talks about a surprising discovery she made as she learned about her Core Gift. Kenora is a city located in Ontario, Canada.
Listen to the podcast here
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INVITATIONS TO CONTRIBUTE / COLLABORATE
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Call for Hosts for the ABCD 2021 Global UnConference
Active Hope: Connecting Wisdom and Strengths Across Our Land
Host (facilitate) a session during the September 21-22, 2021 UnConference.
For more information on the types of session you might like to host or facilitate and to submit you session
ABCD Institute Steward Allison Lourash Seeking to Interview Community Development Practitioners
Allison is currently conducting her doctoral research study "Exploring Practitioners' Strategies for Social Inclusion of People with Disabilities" She is seeking to interview community development practitioners (connectors/builders/organizers) in the United States who have experience working with communities on projects that have included, either purposefully or not, people with disabilities. More information and a link to sign-up is available at www.lourash.com or by contacting Allison at allison@lourash.com. Participants must live and work in the United States.
ABCD E-Book is ready for launch!
We need your stories and resources. If you have something to share and need some support, join the monthly writing sessions on the first Wednesday of each month at 9am and 9 PM AEST
To submit your story, video, visual or resources, click here
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ABCD Institute Virtual Training - Calling All Connectors: ABCD for Common Wealth & Other Tales of Wonder.
We invite you to join us for a series of conversations over six 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.
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?
Please circulate widely to your email lists!
Fall 2021 training flyer | For more information and to register
The ABCD UnConference - Active Hope: Connecting Wisdom and Strengths Across Our Land
The Global ABCD UnConference is back for 2021!
Time: Tuesday, Sept. 21 to Wednesday, Sept. 22 (USA, Canada, South America)
Wednesday, Sept. 22 to Thursday, Sept. 23, 2021 (New Zealand Time)
Hosted by global asset and strengths-based practitioners from around the world, with over 24 hours of rolling time events, this virtual (un)Conference will engage global groups with all levels of formal and informal experience to hold space and facilitate conversations about the questions that have been keeping you up at night about assets and strengths-based action.
Don't miss this amazing FREE event!
For more information and to register
Do You Know Your Unique Purpose? Core Gifts Master Facilitator Certification Program
Time: August 26 and 27, 2021
Is it possible to know your unique life purpose and help others know theirs? Join the growing global community of helping professionals of all kinds who believe you can. Become a Core Gift Discovery Master Facilitator. Spend two sessions with a small group learning the underpinning theory, getting in-depth coaching in the process, and leave knowing your personal Core Gift. 12 CEU's offered by NASW for social workers, LMFT's, Mental Health Counselors, and Substance Abuse Counselors.
For more details and registration
Nurture Development Celebrating Communities
Asset-Based Community Development (UK) Free Online Jamboree - sharing stories demonstrating the strength and skill of communities across Scotland.
Tuesday, September 7 10:00 - 12:30 UK time
For more information and registration information
ABCD Institute and Tamarack Events
In the Fall ABCDI and Tamarack will collaborate to hold two events around John McKnight’s learnings:
Abundant Community Reclaiming Freedom with David Cayley, Peter Block & John McKnight
September 21, 12:00 pm CST
Drawing on David's most recent book, Ivan Illich: An Intellectual Journey, this conversation will explore Illich's understanding of free relatedness and it's 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.
Register Here
Save the Date: Wales ABCD Jamboree Free Online Event
Friday, October 8 10:00 - 12:30 UK time
For more information contact Cormac Russell
See flyer
Tamarack Reconnect - Making Community Essential
October 6-7
Join in on October 6 and 7 for a live online national conversation from Kitchener, Ontario, as Tamarack’s Learning Community convenes to discuss how we are going to rebuild social connection after the COVID pandemic. Speakers include ABCD Institute Stewards Paul Born, Jim Diers, DeAmon Harges, John McKnight and Cormac Russell.
For more information and to register | View promotional video
Online Coady International Institute Courses
Coady International Institute at St. Francis Xavier University in Antigonish, NS offers educational programming for emerging and established community leaders with a passion for social change. Coady’s approach to adult education is practice-focused and participatory, informed by learner-centered and asset-based methods that hold the potential for both personal growth and societal transformation.
To view class listings and to register
ABCD in Action Rural ABCD Community of Practice
This CoP started in May 2021 and we are going to be meeting monthly to talk and learn from each other about our rural ABCD work. We meet on the last Thursday of the month at 10 am ET. We have created a new forum to help keep the conversation going.
You must be a member of ABCD in Action, but it is free and easy to sign up.
Become a member of ABCD in Action | Information on ABCD Rural CoP
Join the Tamarack Institute ABCD Community of Practice
The aim of the bi-monthly Asset-Based Community Development Community of Practice (ABCD CoP) is to go deeper on ABCD practice and explore helpful tools and resources by bringing together practitioners and residents who are applying or are seeking to apply an ABCD approach to their community development work.
Sign up here
ABCD and First Nations
The group meets on the last Tuesday (Monday for our US friends) of each month at 9am Australian Eastern Standard Time. The zoom calls are a place for First Nations (Indigenous) practitioners or practitioners working with First Nations communities to come together and share stories, tools and practices. Anyone who would like to join us can email Steward Michelle Dunscombe at michelle@jeder.com.au
View all the events on ABCD the Institute Website
View additional event pages of ABCD Steward affiliated organizations
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The ABCD Institute is a partner of the Irwin W. Steans Center at DePaul University in Chicago. To learn more about the work of the Steans Center and the Egan Office for Urban Education & Community Partnerships visit the Steans Center website
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