the community alchemist WORKSHOP POSTPONED TO 2024 - STAY TUNED FOR UPDATES

THE POWER OF APPRECIATIVE INQUIRY TO CREATE DESIRED CHANGE IN OUR ORGANISATIONS AND COMMUNITIES

Appreciative Inquiry (Ai) is a philosophy and strategy for purposeful and profound change that helps us identify what is working well so we can create more of it! Using Ai in community settings engages with everybody equally, creating a more horizontal model of engagement and activation of community assets and aspirations. 

It identifies the best of ‘what is’ and then encourages dreams of ‘what could be’. It is a collaborative search for the strengths and passions which can lead to inspired positive change. Ai is a strengths-based participatory approach to community development and is being embraced by more community organisations and charities around the world. 

Zizi has also run Ai workshops for organisations who want to improve their systems as well as helping them discover their 'positive core' so that they can thrive and flourish as an organisation. The Ai 5D Cycle for example has been used as a great tool for strategic planning and group visioning within organisations and businesses.  

Workshops will vary depending on what organisations want to focus on. 

Some of areas that may be covered in the workshops include: 

• Understand how Appreciative Inquiry (Ai) and strengths/asset-based approaches can be applied to community development work
• Ai Questions: formulate and ask powerful, positive and generative questions 
• The power of stories: eliciting positive stories to discover what's strong in our communities 
• Language and words: how words (language and conversations) create communities (social construction)
• Ai tools and practices for community conversations, engagement and planning
• How we can positively impact our organisations by introducing Ai practices in our workplace 
• Ai 5-D cycle. A great practical tool and process model for approaching change at all levels within a system, from one-on-one coaching, to team building, to community or system-wide change.
• Conducting a SOAR analysis as opposed to a SWOT analysis. 

SOAR stands for Strengths, Aspirations, Opportunties & Results. 

LEVERAGING OUR STRENGTHS AND ASSETS FOR COMMUNITY-LED DEVELOPMENT

Asset Based Community Development (ABCD) approach and methodology is being applied more and more in the community and human services sector. ABCD places the spotlight back on community assets and capacities rather than on community needs and deficiencies. As a philosophy and practice ABCD allows a community to focus on and use what it has to become stronger and get what it wants. 

Interactive workshops provide participants with the theoretical grounding to shift the mindset from ‘client’ to ‘citizen’ and motivate citizens/residents to start asking the right questions around what they can do for themselves and their community. 

Workshops that Zizi facilitates are not off the shelf and will vary depending on the topic areas organisations want to focus on. 

For example organisations may be interested in focusing on conducting community consultations using an ABCD approach. 

In the introduction to ABCD participants will engage in interactive activities such as the mapping of ‘Head, Heart & Hands’ (individual assets) which a great tool to discover the skills and assets of individuals for the purpose of linking them to community efforts and initiatives. 

Some of the topics and tools we may explore in a ABCD workshop may include: 

• Open Space Technology (OST) - a great community conversation tool
• Cultivating diversity: diversity is an asset
• Asset Mapping as opposed to doing a Needs Analysis 
• Learning Conversations - a great way to build relationships that make care visible

These are just examples of some ABCD tools participants can learn more about. 

Overall, ABCD challenges our thinking in relation to how we approach community building and community work in general. ABCD is an invitation to think differently and to start with what works and what the strengths are, as opposed to analysing what is broken and what the 'needs' of a community are.  

 FUNDAMENTALS OF COMMUNITY DEVELOPMENT 

Community development is intended to build the capacity of community members and create stronger and more connected communities. Community development uses a holistic approach grounded in principles of empowerment, human rights, inclusion, social justice, self-determination and collective action (Kenny & Connors, 2017).

The material covered in this course facilitates exploration of the fundamental components of community development. 

This is a more theory based course where we explore theories and models in practice and  reflect on the issues and challenges faced in communities across different contexts. 

Some of the topics that may be covered in the course include: 

• Principles of community development
• Community Development models: exploring diverse approaches to development (global perspectives)
• Building community based groups
• Developing and promoting community projects
• Conducting community consultations and forums
• Supporting community/collective action
• Community engagement (processes and tools)
• Public participation and participative democracy
• Monitoring & evaluation tools

Course participants will explore ways they can contribute to building the capacity of local communities to make them stronger and be  advocates for change. This course is designed for students, volunteers or community practitioners who want to gain a more theoretical and solid understanding of community development. 

Course Duration: 12 - 18 hours (depending on course selected)

For bookings of 6 or more please contact us.  

Regularly check our website for future CD courses. 

CREATING CITIZEN-DRIVEN COMMUNITIES THAT BUILDS ON LOCAL STRENGTHS, KNOWLEDGE & CONNECTIONS  

There is no doubt that community members are the experts when it comes to creating the community they want. They know best, not professionals or services. 

Communities and citizens thrive when we embark on an appreciative journey, seeking out strengths and assets and inquiring into the best of ‘what is’ in individuals, groups and communities. When this becomes the starting point people are more willingly to participate and collaborate. 

People feel valued, heard and respected;  their assets, skills and passions recognised and activated. This approach impels communities to move away from feeling despair and disenfranchised towards hope and inspired action. It is a collaborative search for strengths and passions which facilitates citizen-driven actions and change. 

Zizi runs workshops directly with community members and citizens, helping them re-ignite their passion for what they care about.  She facilitate discussions, group work and exercises that re-energise the group. People will participate and get involved in their community when a space is provided where they set the agenda for what their community should be, rather than just be a recipient or information source, which is often the role relegated to citizens.  

Zizi is passionate about creating and promoting opportunities for citizens to be heard, to create and to lead, so that our bottom up approach to community development is put into practice.   

This bottom up approach is a departure from traditional forms of citizen engagement, as often community affairs and planning  have been dominated by institutions, namely government agencies. 

Providing 'community friendly' spaces and platforms for active citizenship and community participation advances a community's agenda in the public sphere. It also creates a community of citizens who are invested in sustaining the collective vision and goals of a community.