Asset Based Community Development (ABCD) 

John McKnight visit to Cumbria, 4^th June 2009:

John McKnight is Professor of Human Development and Social Policy, and co-director of Asset Based Community Development (ABCD) at Northwest University, Chicago. Travelling through Cumbria on his families first return trip to Scotland since the 1600's, John was 'knobbled' by the Director of Public Health for Cumbria, Dr John Ashton who persuaded Professor McKnight to provide presentations for decision makers in the county.  The talks proved to be inspirational for those attending.

Professor McKnight explained how ABCD turns conventional ‘deficit measurement’ (what communities lack) on it’s head, and instead encourages communities to take ‘skills inventories’as a starting point for development. John and his students (including a young Barrack Obamma) started by gathering 3000 stories from 60 cities asking a single question ‘can you tell us about anyone in your community who has done something that made things better?’. The examples which were given by ordinary people provided moving illustrations of how people use their given attributes to improve the quality of life for their communities.   

Summarised as ABCD, individuals act as ‘connectors’ creating associations of citizens who solve problems. This used to be the norm (the co-op movement) but has been replaced by institutional intervention which tends to short circuit the creation of strong community networks. Professor McKnight described how there are limits to the ability of institutions to improve society without engaging civic society. Institutions need to ask communities – what can we do to help you help yourselves?  John Ashton believes that  the Asset Based Community Development approach is just what is needed at a time when we have a ‘perfect storm’ in terms of the failure of conventional institutional approaches.  

See www.abcdinstitute.org  

And Building Communities from the Inside Out: A Path Toward Finding and Mobilizing a Community's Assets (1993)