The Action Conversation
Community Development begins when we think of community as a possibility, a declaration of the future that we choose to live into.
The essence of restorative community building is not found in economic prosperity, or in the political discourse, or the capacity of leadership. It is found in an active citizens’ willingness to own up to their contribution, to be humble, to choose accountability, and to have faith in their own capacity to make authentic promises to create the alternative future.
This Masterclass has been about rethinking the heart of community development by growing this deeper capacity of active citizenship, and awakening a more generous engagement on the issues and possibilities that matter to us. A purpose of this learning journey has been to create a sense of belonging with others and also a peer sense of accountability for oneself.
Here are some of the core questions associated with each our conversations:
How can you best invite people to gather and engage in ways that will lead to transformation? (Invitation)
What is the crossroads that you find yourself at right now? (Possibility)
What have you done to contribute to the very thing you complain about or want to change? (Ownership)
What do you want to say “no” to, or refuse, that you keep postponing? (Dissent)
What is the promise for our community that has your name on it? (Commitment)
What gifts have you received from each other? (Gifts)
These questions, and the conversations they have evoked, help name the agenda that can shift the nature of our future. They are a curriculum for developing the resilience and regeneration of our communities.
They also form a foundation from which our active citizenship can proceed.
What possibilities are you seeing for our community?
What are you learning about the possibilities you see?
What gifts and assets do you bring to these possibilities?
How can you free up your time to help make a difference?
What specifically can you do right now, or sometime in the next year?
Who do you need to connect with to make these things happen?
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(edited and adapted from) Peter Block “Community – The Structure of Belonging” 2008 and Peter Block “Civic Engagement and the Restoration of Community” 2007
Peter Block “Community – The Structure of Belonging”
now in a second edition, revised and updated
Berrett-Koehler Publishers; 2nd ed. edition (July 17, 2018)
available on Amazon.com at
https://www.amazon.com/Community-Structure-Belonging-Peter-Block/dp/1523095563
Or buy from Bookshop.org / Support Independent Bookstores
https://bookshop.org/p/books/community-the-structure-of-belonging-peter-block/10781700?ean=9781523095568