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Community Assets for Sustainable Development: Discovering & Utilizing, Study notes of Sociology

The concept of Asset-Based Community Development (ABCD), an updated approach to building community capacity. ABCD considers local assets as the primary building blocks of sustainable community development. seven distinct assets that make up a community profile, including natural, social, human, financial, political, and built assets. It also highlights the importance of asset mapping as a tool for community development and provides examples of how it has been used to build community capacity.

What you will learn

  • What are the seven distinct assets that make up a community profile in Asset-Based Community Development?
  • How can asset mapping be used to build community capacity?

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Asset-based Community Development
This document was created for the CultivateNC program by Dr. Susan Jakes and Jacqueline Murphy Miller
Asset-based community development is an updated version of a time honored concept for building community capacity. The
premise is similar to an old fashion barn raising. On the day of the barn raising the community would join together to share the work.
But, they didn’t just share work, they would share their knowledge, their resources, and they would build friendships and
collaborations. More importantly, they understood that together they were stronger and could accomplish larger goals than any one
individual.
The Asset-Based Community Development Institute (ABCD) considers local assets as the primary building blocks of sustainable
community development. For nearly three decades, Institute founders John Kretzmann and John McKnight gathered the stories of
residents who built stronger neighborhoods in much the same way as the early pioneers, by focusing on their community
strengths. (The Asset-Based Community Development Institute: http://www.abcdinstitute.org/)
Why are assets important?
When we hear the term asset, we often think about financial assets or houses and cars, but for community development, we will be
looking at seven distinct assets that make up a community profile. Those are financial, political, human, cultural, built/infrastructure,
natural/environmental and social. “Assets can be physical things like a building, a local swimming pool or a 150-year-old tree in the
town square; assets can also be intangible, like the work that volunteer groups do to beautify the main street or raise funds for the
food bank.” (Asset Mapping a Handbook) http://rural.gc.ca/conference/documents/mapping_e.phtml
By discovering on their strengths, community members:
develop a renewed sense of pride in their community
grow more confident in their own abilities
are more willing to invest themselves and their resources into capacity building
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Asset-based Community Development

This document was created for the CultivateNC program by Dr. Susan Jakes and Jacqueline Murphy Miller

Asset-based community development is an updated version of a time honored concept for building community capacity. The premise is similar to an old fashion barn raising. On the day of the barn raising the community would join together to share the work. But, they didn’t just share work, they would share their knowledge, their resources, and they would build friendships and collaborations. More importantly, they understood that together they were stronger and could accomplish larger goals than any one individual.

The Asset-Based Community Development Institute (ABCD) considers local assets as the primary building blocks of sustainable community development. For nearly three decades, Institute founders John Kretzmann and John McKnight gathered the stories of residents who built stronger neighborhoods in much the same way as the early pioneers, by focusing on their community strengths. ( The Asset-Based Community Development Institute: http://www.abcdinstitute.org/)

Why are assets important?

When we hear the term asset, we often think about financial assets or houses and cars, but for community development, we will be looking at seven distinct assets that make up a community profile. Those are financial, political, human, cultural, built/infrastructure, natural/environmental and social. “Assets can be physical things like a building, a local swimming pool or a 150-year-old tree in the town square; assets can also be intangible, like the work that volunteer groups do to beautify the main street or raise funds for the food bank.” (Asset Mapping a Handbook) http://rural.gc.ca/conference/documents/mapping_e.phtml

By discovering on their strengths, community members:

 develop a renewed sense of pride in their community  grow more confident in their own abilities  are more willing to invest themselves and their resources into capacity building

Community

Asset Inventory

Natural Assets

Special geographic features (mountains, rivers, lakes, trees etc.) Outdoor recreation opportunities (hunting, fishing, biking, hiking, canoeing, camping…) Parks Farms and Ranches

Social

Networks

Civic organizations Agricultural organizations Choirs Book clubs Youth groups

Human

Assets

Organizations that enrich the community Schools, Government agencies, Healthcare providers, Economic developers

Financial Assets

Sources of funding Incentive programs Banks Private foundations Not for profit organizations

Political Assets

Elected and appointed officials Representatives of political groups

Cultural

Assets

Museums Historical places Annual festivals Studio Arts Spiritual groups Performing Arts Culinary Arts

Built

Infrastructure

Assets

Utilities Telecommunications Healthcare facilities Industrial parks Main Street Farmers market Recreation center

This is why Asset Mapping has become an important tool in the field of community development. See the diagram.

EXAMPLE OF A COMMUNITY ASSET INVENTORY: (A real inventory list will include many pages of data.)

This framework, developed by Cornelia and Jan Flora along with Susan Fey, provides a tool for analyzing how communities work. “These researchers found that the communities that were most successful in supporting healthy, sustainable community and economic development were considering seven types of assets, which they designated as natural, cultural, human, social, political, financial, and built. In addition to identifying the assets and the role each plays in community economic development, this approach also focuses on the interaction among these seven assets as well as how investments in one asset can build assets in another. (Flora, J.L., Flora, C. B. (2008). Community Capitals. Iowa State University, Department of Sociology. [http://www.soc.iastate.edu/staff/cflora/ncrcrd/capitals.html)

Asset category

Name of business, organization, institution or association

Name of Owner, Director or Manager

Mailing Address or P.O. Box

Email Address for Owner or Manager

Phone for Owner or Manager

Description of Asset Source

Human High School Principal John Doe

123 Main St., NC, 00000 Email for John Doe 999 - 999 - 9999 Education School Website

Built Farmers Market

Market manager John Doe

123 Main St., NC 00000 Email for manager 999 - 999 - 9999 Food or retail

Community website

Financial Community Bank

John Doe, Branch Manager

123 Main St., NC 00000 Email for manager 999 - 999 - 9999

Financial planning

Business Directory

Natural Park Biking Trails

Park Director, John Doe

123 Main Rd, NC 00000 Email for director 999 - 999 - 9999

Outdoor recreation Visitors center

Cultural Strawberry Festival Ms. Jane Doe

123 Main St. , NC 00000 Email for Ms. Doe 999 - 999 - 9999

Local food, arts and crafts Newspaper

Social Network Community Choir Director Jane Doe

123 Main St., NC 00000 Email for Jane Doe 999 - 999 - 9999

Music and entertainment

Church bulletin board

Political (^) Community Mayor Mayor Doe

123 Main St., NC 00000 Email for Mayor 999 - 999 - 9999 Political affiliate

Chamber of Commerce

Examples of how community asset mapping can be used for building community capacity.

Developing an Unusual Asset in Cummins, South Australia

Cummins, South Australia (population 600) was a town in crisis in the mid to late 1990s, as young people were leaving the area to find jobs, and the rural downtown was diminishing. They had little to no social capital in town, and negativity was at an all time high. They were categorized as “dying” by the state newspaper, The Advertiser. Banks and shops had closed their doors and the future was looking bleak.

Two local leaders decided that their town needed a future; they were not willing to give up the fight. They also knew they had to get the locals to believe in the cause as well. Cummins had to look into their local assets which were not clear at the beginning. An Enterprise Committee formed and soon recognized something in town that could be developed further: the old Kalamazoo Railway that ran through town and was no longer used. A local campaign was initiated by the committee: “Cummins on Track.”

Activities planned by the committee were funded in part by a pledge campaign. Through this campaign, the committee suggested the event “The Kalamazoo” to get local pride going, now called “The Kalamazoo Classic.” This running race event is held on and around the Kalamazoo Railway with several different types of races and tests of strength. This event has generated a lot of attention and interest inside and outside the town because of its “wackiness.”

The campaign made townspeople excited about Cummins again, and people began working together for the town’s future. Now, there is a new bank in town, shops have opened up, and the school is doing well again, with graduating students either going on to college or finding employment locally. Cummins found that the key to their redevelopment was to first look at possible assets in the community, get local people enthused and organized, and then work on activities and economic development together.

(Flora, C. B., Fey, S., Bregendahl, C., Friel, J. Using Community Capitals to Develop Assets for Positive Community Change, PDF format (1,081 kb) http://www.ag.iastate.edu/centers/rdev/projects/benedum/casestudysummaries.pdf)

In some community projects, the researchers or community development specialists will create a map which identifies the community assets and where they are located. This can be helpful in building collaborations and future partnerships to work on community issues. A map can be created in GIS or it can be made with poster paper, markers and sticky dots.

Once you have developed your inventory spreadsheet, the next step will involve some creative thinking. Assets are only “assets” if they are being used. In the story above, they converted an old unused railroad line into an entertainment venue which in turn stimulated growth to other parts of the community. The next example illustrates how another community development specialist used asset mapping to build economic and community capacity.

[http://www.soc.iastate.edu/staff/cflora/ncrcrd/capitals.html

(Flora, C. B., Fey, S., Bregendahl, C., Friel, J. Using Community Capitals to Develop Assets for Positive

Community Change, PDF format (1,081 kb). Iowa State University, Department of Sociology.

Retrieved November 2012 from [http://www.soc.iastate.edu/staff/cflora/ncrcrd/capitals.html

Block, P., Mcknight, J., (2013, February 22). Meet Mary Nelson, Embracing Gods Vision for Community

[Web Blog] Retrieved February 2013 from

http://www.abundantcommunity.com/home/stories/parms/1/story/20130222_meet_mary_nelson.html

Canadian Rural Partnership, Asset Mapping: A Handbook,

http://rural.gc.ca/conference/documents/mapping_e.phtml