Kristen Baumlier

This weekend I attended a talk/workshop called The Abundant Community: Shifting from Consumerism to Citizenship given by John McKnight at River’s Edge in Cleveland, OH.  McKnight is emeritus professor of education and social policy and co-director of the Asset-Based Community Development Institute at Northwestern University. With Peter Block, he is coauthor of “The Abundant Community” and author of “The Careless Society.”

I wasn’t sure exactly what I was going to.  I expected a lecture but instead found myself as a part of a dynamic 3 hour session.  In the session, Mcnight  shared stories about individuals making changes in their neighborhoods, presented case study information, and had us do a series of exercises to learn about the  “recipe” to make community change.

Mcknight describes a consumer as a person one has surrendered to others the power to provide what is essential for a full and satisfied life and a citizen is one who chooses to create the life, the neighborhood, and the world from his/her own gifts and the gifts of others.

In the workshop we reviewed some simple questions and things to consider – to help make the shift from being consumers to citizens.

The talk began by Mcknight introducing ideas about abundancy.   Mcknight said, “Abundancy is everywhere and change is made by a citizen having the power to have vision and to work with others to make the vision come true.”

Mcknight and his team did a study where they asked individuals, “Would you tell us what people have done together to make things better locally?”  In the study, they collected 300 stories – and then looked at what stories have in common.

They found that there were 5 “ingredients” for making changes.

Each story had these 5 things in common:

1. Individuals focusing on Assets/Gifts.
The residents focused on the gifts of the individuals – not the “problem, deficits, or needs.”  Looking at the glass as half full and not half empty, focusing on gifts and assets, and the capacities of others.  Mcknight talked about how any successful group that is successful ignores the positive half, and ignores the empty half.

2.  Associations
Change was done by groups who come together to do things and were mostly not paid – associations, clubs, grups of peoples.  Out of the 3000 stories- most of the change started with an association being the trigger to make changes in the community’s well-being.   Some associations include, addiction prevention and recovery groups, block clubs, animals care groups, recreations groups, religious groups, etc.   The associations can come together because they care about the same thing.

3. Institutions
Government, non-profit and profit groups, jobs, parks – are usually part of the process.

4.Land
The groups would meet on land, or make a garden, etc.

5.Exchange
There is a trade/exchange of some kind between the associations and institutions.

In the workshop – McKnight had us focus on #1 and 2 of the list – (which is why there is less information about 3-5 above.)  He said that #1 and #2  are the most important ingredients of the process.

Mcknight shared a story about how Adopt-a –Highway began in Wisconsin (where associations and groups help clean the highways), about a project where churches worked together to make a soup kitchen that turned into a community restaurant, a community library project, and other examples.

We did a series of exercises/ discussions – where we had to answer a question, share our answer with the people at the table we were at, and then to the larger group – with Mcknight mediating the process.

The questions were:

1. What are your gifts?  (Something you were born with  – and decide on your top one.)
2. What are your skills? (Something you learned – and decide on your top one.)
3. What is your passion? What do you care about the most? (and choose the top one.)
4. What do you know well enough that you feel you could teach it to young people in your neighborhood?

After we answered these questions, McKnight shared a story about a neighborhood where 17/40 households on a street did this exercise, then made a list of the topics people came up with for #4.  They had 40 kids on the street fill out what interested them from the list of topics – and eventually people started teaching workshops to the kids in the neighborhood.

McKnight talked about how many of the topics on the list that the kids wanted: cooking, how to manage a budget, painting, computers, real estate, skating, typing how to grow plants, etc. – are not topics taught in schools.  He also talked about how we rely on schools for education – and that we no longer have a “village” to support the growth of young people.

He talked about how this made the change from being neighbors to citizens – and from being clients and consumers to citizens.

At the end of the session – he shared his email and website – and that if any of us were going to do join this movement in making change in our  neighborhood to contact him and his group.

He ended the session by talking about how gifts are not gifts until they are given, and that care is created in the community – not by institutions.

He shared a quote from a community in Eames, IA that wrote “A great community creates the condition where people can fall in love.  A place we can fuss over one another and ask how did I ever live without you?”  McKnight ended the session by saying, “ We have a great future to do this.”

The session made me feel motivated about working with others where I live to make a community garden in the abandoned school yard near our street, and also to see  if we can move from the annual block party that we have – to doing the community exercise to move to having workshops for the kids on our street.

Want to become a community citizen? Check out the ABCD website, download some of the resources and publications, or contact McKnight at JLMABCD@aol.com.

Image Source:

Kaboom Playground Project – Cupertino News

Community Garden Project – Raleigh, NC

Links:

ABCD (The Asset-Based Community Development Institute

Resources and Publications to Downlaod – from ABCD Institute

The Abundant Community- the Book

Community Stories