ABCD Forum – From Clients to Citizens

In July of 2009, more than 100 development practitioners, policy makers and academics from 14 countries gathered in Antigonish, Nova Scotia to attend From Clients to Citizens: Deepening the Practice of Asset-Based and Citizen-Led Development, a forum hosted by the Coady International Institute at St. Francis Xavier University, Canada, and co-sponsored by the Asset-Based Community Development (ABCD) Institute at Northwestern University, USA.

The purpose of this gathering was to bring together existing networks of the ABCD Institute and the Coady International Institute to share ideas and experiences, as well as invite new and emerging networks into the discussion. Asset-based and citizen-led approaches to community development have resonated with people from diverse backgrounds and experiences, and sometimes wide ranging ideological positions. The forum offered participants stimulating and challenging conversations over three days, and the opportunity to engage with other community development facilitators, researchers, policy makers, and donors whose work, in some way, is defined by the principles of asset-based and citizen-led development.

Click here for ABCD Forum Report: Conversations from the ABCD Forum (1.2MB pdf)

Click here for ABCD Forum Program (57K pdf)

Click here for ABCD Forum Program with Bios (5M pdf)

Click to see the presentations from each day of the forum:

Tuesday, July 7, 2009
Wednesday, July 8 2009
Thursday, July 9, 2009
Friday, July 10, 2009

To view suggested readings from the participants click here (27K pdf)