New Community Paradigms

ABCD stands for Asset-Based Community Development and it refers to a type of community development based on the work of Professors Jody Kretzmann and John McKnight. ABCD challenges the traditional deficit-based approach that tries to solve urban and rural development problems by focusing on the needs and deficiencies of individuals, neighbourhoods, towns, villages, etc.

Asset Based Community Development (ABCD) is an approach to sustainable community-driven development. Beyond the mobilisation of a particular community, it is concerned with how to link micro-assets to the macro-environment. Asset Based Community Development's premise is that communities can drive the development process themselves by identifying and mobilizing existing, but often unrecognised assets. Thereby responding to challenges and creating local social improvement and economic development. This page will describe ABCD through five key aspects.

In a world filled with ever-more-complex technological, sociological, ecological, political & economic systems... a tool to make interactive simulations may not be that much help. But it can certainly try.

Based in Fuzzy-logic Cognitive Mapping (FCM), users can easily develop semi-quantitative models of environmental issues, social concerns or social-ecological systems in Mental Modeler by:  Defining the important components of a system  Defining the relationships between these components  Running "what if" scenarios to determine how the system might react under a range of possible changes.

The financial health of a city is closely intertwined with that of its residents. Financially healthy residents are better able to weather difficult times, are less likely to need city supports and services, and can contribute more to the local economy by supporting property, sales, and income taxes. Our data dashboard provides a unique snapshot of residents' financial health, including credit bureau data, to tell the story of city financial health. Recognizing that cities differ and their residents' needs are diverse, we construct city peer groups to highlight shared challenges and promising interventions. What's your city's picture of financial health?

The most important work on EA and applied System Theory today."  "Makes EA more powerful, coherent and usable." "I read and regularly refer… way beyond any other EA/system engineering/human factors/systems theory resource." "I just want to tell you how much I appreciate your musings on systems…  exceptionally useful".

Forum for the Future US brings all of Forum's system innovation, futures and sustainable business tools and expertise to solve sustainability challenges across North America. Working with major businesses including Target, Walmart and McDonald's, smaller companies like Method and Annie's, and NGOs such as The Rainforest Alliance, we have helped reshape the business models and convene the coalitions capable of creating lasting change. We believe that only by keeping a keen eye on what the future might hold can we make sound decisions for the longer term. We also believe that the key systems that we rely on, like food and energy, are broken and in need of complete transformation. Forum equips its Network members with the knowledge, training and practical tools to innovate. We provide them with a platform for collaboration where they can test solutions and make their successes bigger and better.

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Meeting of the Minds brings together urban sustainability and technology leaders to share knowledge and build lasting alliances.

 sociocracy is about one-ness. One-ness as in: we are all one. And I don't mean it in an esoteric way. I mean it as interdependence. You cannot do anything without others' contribution. And you cannot do anything without affecting others

TaxBrain is an interface to open source economic models for tax policy analysis. The code for the TaxBrain webapp interface is itself open source.

Emerald Cities Collaborative (ECC) is a national nonprofit network of organizations working together to advance a sustainable environment while creating high-road -- sustainable, just and inclusive -- economies with opportunities for all. ECC develops energy, green infrastructure and other sustainable development projects that not only contribute to the resilience of our metropolitan regions but also ensure an equity stake for low-income communities of color in the green economy. 

Solar United Neighbors is the only organization in the country dedicated to representing the needs and interests of solar owners and supporters. See how we've been helping people go solar, join together, and fight for their energy rights since 2007.

Kingfisher is a visual mapping tool that helps individuals and teams understand, explain, and collaborate on complex information. Based on years of applied research on how we think and learn, Kingfisher works the way your brain does: by organizing parts that can be combined and connected to each other to form a complete picture.

Kialo cuts through the noise typically associated with social and online media, making it easy to engage in focused discussion.

For almost a decade, the Davenport Institute has been researching, training, and consulting with public officials to improve the ways in which governments involve their residents in making tough policy decisions. This work has taken us throughout California and across the country, learning about and teaching the latest techniques in effective participatory governance. We continue to hear from public leaders seeking to capture a "30,000-foot view" of their government's practices in this area. That is why we are launching "How are WE Doing?" to be that lens through which you can evaluate your municipality's public engagement processes.

We work together to advance technology and data in public decision making. Our community of 2,700+ people work on projects, attend events, help shape public policy, and produce the annual City of Houston Hackathon in May.

This blog aims to build upon last week's three part series entitled 13 Staging Posts of Learning and Development. We'd like to lift out four staging posts of particular significance. These four staging posts consolidate our theory of change; the framework within which we guide strategic change, implement practice, create a sustainable legacy and evaluate impact.

The military spends more than a billion dollars a year to clean up sites its operations have contaminated with toxic waste and explosives. These sites exist in every state in the country. Some are located near schools, residential neighborhoods, rivers and lakes. A full map of these sites has never been made public - until now. Enter your address to see the hazardous sites near you, or select a state. Related story »