Early Years Conference 2020

Workshop 1: The Power of Appreciative Inquiry

 

Transforming communities through powerful questions and conversations. Appreciative Inquiry is used to generate change through igniting the collective imagination and promoting dialogues that can help collectively shape people’s realities and their vision for the future.

 

In the words of its primary originator, Dr. David L. Cooperrider of Case Western Reserve University, AI asks us to pay special attention to “the best of the past and present” — in order to “ignite the collective imagination of what might be.”

 

Appreciative Inquiry invites us to reflect on the past to build the best possible future for our communities. To do this we need to know what’s has worked well in the past and what our strengths are to imagine something better for our organisations and communities.

 

In this 1-hour session we start with a brief overview of AI and its links to asset-based approach to community development verse a deficit-based approach. This leads to a conversation about the power of positive questioning and storytelling as effective ways to engage stakeholders in change efforts, including a guide conduct appreciative interviews, and the impact of positive questions.

 

*Presentation & handouts will be provided

 

Workshop 2: Creating Citizen Driven Communities: using an Asset Based Community Development Approach

 

A 1-hour introductory workshop for community enthusiasts and community builders with an interest and commitment to Asset Based Community Driven (ABCD) philosophies and methodologies and, who want to gain a deeper understanding of how to utilise the ABCD approach to build and strengthen community from the inside out.

 

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

 

Participants will be engaged in a fun ‘Head, Heart & Hands’ mapping exercise, a great tool to discover the skills and assets of individuals, for the purpose of linking them to community efforts and initiatives.

 

The workshop will provide an overview of the philosophy, value and practice of ABCD –- Shifting the development mindset from needs and deficiencies to assets and capacities. Focus on assets rather than deficiencies. – Community assets: overview of assets and asset mapping.

 

For more information or to register, please see here.