Author: dsoulgen

Whether we’re working with multicultural communities, First Nations peoples, newly arrived families, interfaith groups, or long-established neighbourhoods across Australia, we often hear the same phrases: “cultural competence,” “cross-cultural skills,” “culturally appropriate practice.” These terms suggest that culture is something we can master – a body of knowledge we can study until we “know enough.” But…

Lean In or Hold Back: The Unconscious Group Dynamics Behind Authentic Engagement

Nov 25, 2025

—

by

and Why It Matters for Strength-Based Practice In my last reflection, Here We Are: When Relationships Became the Practice, I named a realisation that’s been brewing for years – one that many practitioners, leaders and changemakers across our ecosystem are waking up to…The real work isn’t the method.It’s the relational conditions that make the method…

🌟 Youth Workers: The Ones Who Refuse to Grow Old

Nov 23, 2025

—

by

Youth workers are a special kind. They walk beside young people in some of the most tender, messy, and transformative chapters of their lives – helping them see their own potential when the world can’t always see it for them.They hold hope like a lantern in difficult spaces. They remind us that care, creativity, and…

🌱 The Problem With Empowerment – And What To Do Instead

Nov 13, 2025

—

by

Why “giving people power” often backfires, and what agency-centred practice offers instead The word empowerment is everywhere.We talk about empowering young people, empowering communities, empowering staff, empowering “the vulnerable.” Empower everyone. But if we look closely, empowerment often carries an unintended message:that we hold all the power,and they have none until we decide to hand…

🌿 Here We Are: When Relationships Became the Practice

Nov 12, 2025

—

by

A reflection from a session I ran recently at the Youth Work Conference – when relational practice came to life in the most unexpected way. When the Threads Came Together Last week, I had one of those moments where what I’ve been sensing, championing and practising for years finally came to life – threads coming…

🌿 Appreciative Inquiry: Asking What’s Strong to Inspire What’s Possible

Nov 11, 2025

—

by

In youth and community development work, the questions we ask shape the worlds we create. Developed at Case Western Reserve University, Appreciative Inquiry (AI) offers a strength-based alternative to traditional problem-solving approaches.Instead of asking “What’s wrong, and how do we fix it?” AI begins with “What’s working, what gives life, and what could be?” It’s…

🌿 Place-Based Relational Praxis

Nov 8, 2025

—

by

In my previous article, Rethinking How We Work: Why Complex Times Call for Place-Based, Asset-Driven Collaboration, I explored the frameworks that help us work better together across systems and communities. This time, I want to slow down.Before we design another strategy, form another partnership, or launch another initiative, let’s talk about the conditions that allow…

Rethinking How We Work: Why Complex Times Call for Place-Based, Asset-Driven Collaboration

Nov 7, 2025

—

by

Across Australia, councils are being called to respond to an era of overlapping and interconnected crises – or what some now call meta-crises: housing affordability, domestic and family violence, climate stress, youth disengagement, social isolation, and the fraying threads of social cohesion amid growing polarisation. These aren’t isolated challenges; they are systemic – stretching across…

🌿 Starting from the Inside Out

Oct 26, 2025

—

by