About
Asset-based community development (ABCD) was a powerful approach that was used with a diverse network of communities and community organisations across the Connected Communities programme. It aimed to help uncover and utilise their hidden potential, their tangible resources (such as spaces, services, and infrastructures), and intangible qualities (such as creative talents, skills, knowledge, social and emotional capital).
Asset mapping was used as a research method, a community engagement, and a co-design tool. It sought to enable groups to communicate stories, concerns, and achievements, as well as to generate a shared vision and identify areas for development. Approaches to asset mapping used a combination of interviewing and group discussion methods with creative hands-on techniques to help articulate and visualize assets. These ranged from the use of props, cartography, photographs and videos, visual narratives and storytelling, to games, digital media, and performances. Such approaches aimed to trigger creative responses and to creatively document, visualise, and enable critical discussion, which potentially improved the contexts that affected the lives of communities.
Within the Connected Communities programme, emphasis was placed on the development of actionable knowledge that bridged rigorous academic analysis, policy agendas, and community relevance and engagement. While acknowledging the value of each different perspective, it was also necessary to develop knowledge that came from comparison, collaborative reflection and evaluation, and cross-pollination of approaches. This aimed to develop useful methods and strategies for meaningful analysis, representation, and dissemination.
Aims and Objectives
The project brought a unique collaboration with a view to developing a network of community-academic partnerships engaged in asset mapping approaches, within and outside the Connected Communities programme.
The objectives of the project were:
- Share insights from different asset mapping approaches and develop an understanding as well as a record of the scope and value of each approach.
- Understand/explore the different meanings and types of assets that are unearthed, articulated, and communicated by different mapping approaches.
- Explore the audiences and applicability of different asset mapping approaches.
- Co-designed and co-evaluate asset mapping methodologies that were applicable to different situations and directly accessible to communities.
- Explore the application of asset mapping methodologies at an international level and understand contextual issues and opportunities.
- Disseminate collective views in both academic and practitioner circles.
Team
The team drew upon a unique mix of expertise and previous experience of academics and community partners in research and co-creation activities. These covered domains as diverse as architecture, philosophy, community theatre, organisation studies, community-led design, design management, cultural geography, and media and communications.
The collaboration involved six current and previous projects from Connected Communities:
- Media, Community and the Creative Citizen
- Valuing Community-Led Design
- Scaling up Co-design
- Untold Stories of Volunteering
- Unearth Hidden Assets
- Revisiting the Midpoint of British Community Studies
Dr. Giota Alevizou – The Open University (PI) researched the intersections between media, technology, and culture with a particular emphasis on community building, learning, and knowledge generation.
Dr. Katerina Alexiou – The Open University (Co-I) brought expertise on design methods and collaborative design.
Dr. Theo Zamenopoulos – The Open University (Co-I) brought expertise on the psychological and social conditions that enabled creativity and on approaches for community formation.
Ms. Greene – Royal College of Art (Co-I) brought expertise in user-centred design and design ethnography.
Prof. Mihaela Kelemen – University of Keele (Co-I) brought expertise in applying cultural animation approaches to management and organizational studies.
Dr. Martin Phillips – University of Leicester (Co-I) brought expertise in community studies as well as social and cultural geography.
Dr. Aom Lam – Brunel University (Co-I) brought expertise in user requirements research, design management, and social innovation.
Community Partners
Sophia de Sousa from The Glass-House Community-Led Design had experience working with communities engaged in design and placemaking.
Susan Moffat from The New Vic Theatre had an extensive track record in community engagement via dramaturgical techniques such as cultural animation.
The international community partners were Atenistas, an open community of citizens who organized local actions in the areas of architecture, culture, and civic society.
Advisory Committee & Knowledge Exchange
Prof. Chris Speed – University of Edinburgh (Web 2.0 Community Hacking – AHRC)
Dr. Myria Georgiou – London School of Economics and Political Science (Community through Digital Connectivity – LSE Seed Funding)
Dr. Melissa Butcher – The Open University (Hackney as Home – ESRC)
Further Information
An AHRC project funded under the Connected Communities Programme
Principal Investigator: Dr. Giota Alevizou
Duration: February 2014 – February 2015
