Givey discusses Asset-Based Community Development, how this functions and aids communities in unlocking their full potential.
What is ABCD?
Asset-Based Community Development is a methodology used to help communities utilise their strengths. It responds directly to the skills, resources and experience instantly available in these communities. This subsequently enables direct action, ultimately improving these communities. These communities can be local or organisational, however ultimately the idea is that any community can benefit from implementing this into their practice. Whilst ABCD focuses more on deficiencies of individuals, neighbourhoods, towns, villages, by implementing this thought into a larger organisations, they can go on to better help those in need. Ultimately, this makes a more productive and happier environment for everybody involved. ABCD has been described as having a significant impact on communities. A research paper discussed this methodology as a “communitarian approache to human development, with an emphasis on locality, building common purpose within localities, and so forth, as the best way to understanding and developing human capabilities“. By nurturing your assets and implementing these into your practice, it can facilitate a personal transformation as you honour the existing strengths in yourself and surrounding community; ideally leading to a thriving system.
Nurture Development and ABCD
Nurture Development is a leading research, development and training organisation throughout Europe, part of the wider ABCD Institute. It is an organisation which has ABCD central to its practice, based entirely around emphasising the importance of community driven change. So, by working and supporting local communities it allows the people in these spaces to utilise the techniques given through ABCD to implement into their daily practice and ultimately benefit the overall community and its goals. Nurture Development also provide support to mediating/civic organisations who can go on to aid and create the conditions where any neighbourhood can identify, connect and mobilise its assets to the benefit of the whole community.
Nurture Development workers in communities experiences a wide range of issues; environmental, social, political and more. It is vital to recognise that it is not up to these communities to solves issues which are the fault of a wider system, however Nurture Development want to provide tools to help where it is lacking elsewhere. This has been a direct response against institutionalisation (a process intended to regulate societal behaviour) which can be extremely limiting. With this bottom up approach, Nurture Development want to create interdependency in communities. With a strong community comes a sense of empowerment, support and connection which is all too lacking in the 21st century.
How does this relate to Givey?
Like Nurture Development, here at Givey we emphasise the importance of community. Through our fundraising page, we support a range of small charities and people who will benefit most from our services. Both Givey and Nurture Development mutually align in this ethos of emphasising the concept of community and it is these people who deserve the resources, time and space to help facilitate their growth and create happier universal spaces.
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