Blog: What’s the Matter with Asset-Based Community Development?

Guest blogger Dr Akwugo Emejulu reflects on the relevance of asset-based community development in April 2015. She argues that ABCD, perhaps inadvertently, directly contributes to ‘privatising’ social problems by shifting the responsibility for tackling inequality and injustice from the state to individuals and communities using the rhetoric of ‘community empowerment’.

Blog: Better Place – Communities, Citizens and Consumers & New Approaches to Social Policy & Public Services

Alistair Stoddart of The Democratic Society, shares some initial thoughts in March 2015 from the Better Place forum, a gathering of community development workers, academics, campaigners, public service managers, and local and national senior officials to look at ways to allow greater citizen involvement in public service decisions and delivery.

Transforming communities? Exploring the roles of community anchor organisations in public service reform, local democracy, community resilience and social change

Report, summary and policy briefing which explores the developing role of key independent community sector organisations known as community anchors. Using six exemplars, it identifies characteristics of a community anchor organisations and their roles in engaging with, leading and challenging public service reform, local democracy, community resilience and social change.