Welcome

to people interested in the exciting challenge of connecting people, creating a sense of community across those connections, and enjoying the fruits of those connections in creative outcomes. This is a work in progress, some parts are still under construction. I am a faculty member for University of Wisconsin - Madison, also serving as a Cooperative Extension Specialist. This site provides access to ideas, strategies, how-to's, and other information about community building. You will also find resources that I have developed to support the endeavor of community building. 

SITE STRUCTURE AND NAVIGATION

This website is organized in five main sections (with sub-sections).  The main sections are briefly highlighted in the following paragraphs.  Navigation links are located at the bottom of each page allowing movement between main sections and within each main section.  From time to time links to overview resources will also be posted at the bottom of this front page .
 

In today's world there is no single vision of the ideal community. "The test of social connection has as much to do with creating a space for difference and dissent as it does with sustaining collective visions and values's" (Adelman & Frey, 1997, p. ix). Proponents and critics contend with vigor about the degree of cohesion that is healthy for contemporary communities. There is also no primary locus of community. While major efforts are underway to build community among residents of localities, there is great variation in where and how people today find their strongest sense of community. For some it around their neighborhood, for others at work, for others in a social cause, for others in an interest group, perhaps one that meets electronically, for others in an educational setting, for others in responding to a crisis, for others in a spiritual fellowship, for others in an ethnic, gender or other identity group, and the list goes on. And the community building process is dynamic. From moment to moment the sense of connection and community waxes and wanes as attention shifts back forth between task and relationships and as the process unfolds over time, events, participants and so forth. 

Despite this complexity there are some areas of relatively broad agreement. Community pertains to a sense of connection between people, that emerges through processes of communication, joint activity, and sharing of common experiences. When people experience this sense of connection they are frequently able to perform together with more creativity, more satisfaction and better results.

This section presents articles that explore various aspects, complexities and dynamics in the modern experience of "community".  

COMMUNITY BUILDING MOVEMENT

A vast movement has slipped onto the scene, almost unnoticed. The term for this movement is community building. Peterson's (1996) in "Community Building in America - An Introduction" identifies the following elements that characterize this movement: 

1). A focus on developing and sustaining human relationships of caring and belonging 
2). Appreciation of the need of individuals and families for supportive community affiliations 
3). Valuing of diversity and in all its forms, expressed as inclusivity 
4). Creating forums where community bonds may be created, strengthened and, or sustained 
5) Holistic views of interacting conditions, problems and opportunities 
6). Shifting organizations and policies toward roles supportive of natural caring of people in community 
7) Intentionality of community building efforts recognizing forces that divide and weaken people's connecting capacities

This section provides both topical articles and links that deal with the rationale for community building, organizations advancing community building and community building cases. Additionally it includes a component focusing on community, families and youth.  

Community building is an ongoing process. The work is never completed. The sense of community and the sense that a group is performing as a community comes and goes. The process is often "disorderly, rebellious, and messy" (Adelman & Frey, 1997, p. xii). While there seem to be some broadly shared feelings about the experience of community there are very diverse views about the behavior and norms that are healthy in community. So today there is no substitute for continually learning while one is engaged in community building, learning about oneself, about others, about the conditions and norms of desired community, about the activities that build community, and about the factors that aid and hinder realization of community. This site gives special attention to learning as a core element in community building. The focus on learning may be the most distinctive attribute of this site among the many other sites that contribute to the community building movement.

This section is still under construction and is not operational today.  

OUR

Community building is a shared process calling for leadership that is authentic, empowering, and shared.  

This section is still under construction and is not operational today. It will focus on leadership in community building. Plans are to include items on: the concept of leadership in the community building context emphasizing ideas of service, stewardship and shared leadership; on reflective tools for enhancing one's own leadership insight and practice, and possibly other resources useful in understanding and practicing community building leadership.

WAYS

Community building occurs in many ways guided by a mindset that emphasizes relationship building, collective action, and holistic, systemic understandings of community issues and change.  

This is a major section of the site. It has three subsections. The first one, Community Building Strategies includes links and other resources pertaining to several prominent strategies for community building. The strategies currently included are: General Community Building, Asset Based Community Development, Civic Networking, Community Dialogue, Community Organizing, and Coalitions, Partnerships and Collaboration. Other strategies may be added in the future.The second section, Process Facilitation Tools, provides links to facilitation tools one may use when working with community building groups.

OVERVIEW RESOURCES

Families and communities depend on each other for healthy development.  In Community Building and Families: Coalition Applications you will find a Powerpoint presentation that overviews key ideas pertaining to community fragmentation and renewal, links of family and community, meanings of community, and community building themes and strategies for application in coalitions.  Please note that this presentation was created for an audience of Family Living Educators in Wisconsin Cooperative Extension of the University of Wisconsin-Extension.   While much of the content is generic and applicable in other contexts some may be meaningful only in the original context.

Community groups of various types (coalitions, partnerships, collaboratives, networks, councils, etc.) engage persons representing various interests in efforts to strengthen the capacity of the community to improve outcomes for families. There is great potential for community building within and by these groups. An instrument called Assessing Our Groups Community Building Efforts and Outcomes can enable group members to identify the range and depth of community building efforts in four areas: A. Community building goals, B. Community building strategies/activities, C. Internal processes of the group, and D. Community building outcomes in the community.