Asset-Based Community Development (ABCD)

Asset-Based Community Development (ABCD) is a theory and strategy for " sustainable community-driven development" (ABCD Institute).  It suggests that macro community development can be initiated and implemented by residents who recognize individual assets and strengths and put them to use to make positive change.

Apply: ABCD can be used in community development projects even if the project is not initiated by residents.  Community developers can recognize the inherent strengths and assets that lie within residents and can promote or help residents realize their strengths and full potential to become community developers themselves.  By helping bring these strengths to light, the community developer is developing the individual members of the community who can then work together at a more macro level.

Adapt: The theory of using individual assets and strengths to complete larger macro goals is applied in many settings besides community development.  For example, when putting together a team to work on a school project, you figure out the assets and strengths of each team member to see how each person can contribute to the larger project.  One person might be better at reading through research articles, another at making PowerPoint presentations, and another at writing a report.  Together, their strengths combine to finish a more macro project.


Source: ABCD Institute. What is Asset-Based Community Development (ABCD)? n.d. ABCD Institute. 
http://www.abcdinstitute.org/docs/What%20isAssetBasedCommunityDevelopment(1).pdf