Friends & Neighbors

Rekindling Democracy: A Professional’s Guide to Working in Citizen Space

Cormac's post is an adaptation of the Introduction to his just-published book, Rekindling Democracy: A Professional's Guide to Working in Citizen Space. Abundant Community readers can buy the book at a 40% discount by contacting Wipf and Stock Publishers at orders@wipfandstock.com and quoting the...

Forget

Forget everything you thought you knew who you were what you wanted I am here now and it’s all over. Posted by permission. Image by Tim Noonan Related: Ownership in a Future That Works for All (Conversation transcript with link to video) I am US (Hughes) I'll...

I am US

I am US E‘ pluribus unum; out of many comes one One love, 1 hate, 1 cry, 1 hope, 1 fear, 1 faith one virus one Day One People Posted with permission. Image by crsteen1980 Related: Ownership in a Future That Works for All (Conversation transcript with link...

I’ll Pick Up the Check

Everybody wants freedom freedom aint free Everybody wants freedom But freedom aint free So, who's gonna pay? I'll pick up the check this time.   Posted by permission. Public domain image by alexsar982 Related: Ownership in a Future That Works for All (Conversation transcript with link to video) Forget...

The Disability Advantage

There is a pretty good chance you are directly or indirectly connected to the power of disability. The majority of people are. For starters, one-seventh of the people on the planet have a disability, which makes people with disabilities the...

Neighborhood Revitalization without Gentrification

Where we once dreamed of livable cities and revitalized neighborhoods, we now bemoan gentrification and displacement. As neighborhood conditions have improved, the small businesses and low-income residents, typically people of color, have been driven out. The neighborhood is only...

Further Up and Further In

Prairie Sky is Alberta’s first cohousing cooperative. Constructed in 2003 in a quiet Calgary neighbourhood not far from downtown, the 18-unit residential development also has a 3,400 square-foot “Common House” for weekly communal meals, informal gatherings, meetings and community...

Six Principles: Why We Do What We Do and What We Expect from Others

John McKnight has said that he knows of few people who have implemented Asset-Based Community Development more courageously or completely than Mike Mather. Read this excerpt from Mike’s latest book to get a sense of what John means by...

Financing a New Housing Paradigm: Dividend Housing

John and Peter talked with social innovator Margery Spinney on May 2, 2019 about how the dividend housing system she invented provides permanent housing affordability and allows residents to add value and receive an economic return on their housing choice....

Community Adhesive

I love reading, unfortunately, I can’t commit to reading one book for an extended period, thus leaving many suspended mid-chapter. Outside of cluttering my nightstand, such a practice allows me to bring a variety of thinkers into unlikely conversation....

Abundant Community Book Study Guide

In Kitchener, Ontario, community reinventor Jonathan Massimi once led a discussion group with city staff, eight community connectors and a neighborhood association to explore the ideas from John and Peter's book The Abundant Community. That initiative grew into an eight-week...

Reimagining Community: Conversation with Gary Ivory

Reconnecting Juvenile Offenders and Their Communities Conversation with Gary Ivory ~ January 16, 2019 About every six weeks for the last five years, John and Peter have hosted online / dial-up conversations with community-building pioneers as their guests. For their January...

Eight Questions for Thinking and Acting Like a Movement

Profound social change requires movements. Movements open our hearts and minds. They create the favourable political conditions for legislative change, resource allocation and policy shifts.... Social movements do two things much better than other forms of organizing. Social movements do two...

Changing the Narrative for Community Leadership

Conversation with Paula Ellis ~ November 27, 2018 About every six weeks for the last five years, John and Peter have hosted online / dial-up conversations with community-building pioneers as their guests. For their Novemmber 27, 2018 dialog they invited Paula...

Another Other Kingdom

Conversation with Walter Brueggemann ~ October 2, 2018 About every six weeks for the last five years, John and Peter have hosted online / dial-up conversations with community-building pioneers as their guests. For their October 2, 2018 dialog they invited...

Recasting the Narratives That Shape Our Lives

In Recasting the Narratives That Shape Our Lives, Paula Ellis, a leader in journalism innovation, transformative change, and employee and community engagement, describes how innovators in journalism are reimagining and experimenting with what journalism might look like today.

The Four Essential Elements of an Asset-Based Community Development Process

Click here to download the full paper The primary goal of an Asset-Based Community Development (ABCD) process is to enhance collective citizen visioning and production. This paper discusses each of four essential elements in detail in an effort to answer...

Rediscovering Welcome

div style="padding:10px 0 10px 0;">Joining a new group or attending an event can sometimes feel a little unnerving. We may not know the rules, the other people attending seem to already know each other and we might be anxious...

The Church and Proximity

Father Joseph G. Kovitch had just been appointed the priest for St. Matthew's Episcopal Church in Westerville, Ohio, when the parish came face to face with the financial realities of a dwindling congregation. A "For Sale" sign went up...

Restorative Practices: A Toolbox for Turbulent Times

Conversation with Thom Allena About every six weeks for the last five years, John and Peter have hosted online / dial-up conversations with community-building pioneers as their guests. For their May 8, 2018 dialog they invited Thom Allena to talk...

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Corporate Capture: Can We Find a Way Out?

This article, published originally by Nonprofit Quarterly, from Nonprofit Quarterly Magazine’s summer 2024 issue, “Escaping Corporate Capture.” The aircraft manufacturer Boeing,...