I write about …
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The Art of “Pestering”: A Love Letter to Community Builders
There’s an aspect of community building that rarely gets named – let alone celebrated. It’s the quiet, persistent work of inviting people, again and again, even when responses are slow, energy is low, or enthusiasm feels uncertain. I sometimes jokingly…
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🌿 The Real Value of Asset-Based Community Development Training
Why Councils and Community Organisations Keep Calling for ABCD Across councils, youth services, libraries, placemaking teams, neighbourhood centres, and community organisations, one theme has become clear over the last decade: we need approaches that move beyond deficit-based thinking and activate…
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How to Naturally Turn Any Project into Asset-Based Community Development (ABCD) – Without Forcing It
So many of us work inside systems – councils, NGOs, services, schools, health, and community programs – where projects already come with agendas, KPIs, timelines, templates, and reporting frameworks. And yet… beneath the forms and frameworks, there is something deeply…
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When a Strengths-Based Approach Is Truly Tested
A strengths-based approach isn’t truly tested when you’re surrounded by people who already agree with you.It’s tested when you step outside your echo chamber and immerse yourself in community – especially in the moments that stretch you. Critical incidents.Grief.Burnout.Conflict.Politics, competing…
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🔥 Why I Don’t Run “Traditional Workshops
And How Experiential, Participatory Approaches Help Learning Come Alive People often notice that my workshops feel different.Less lecture. More connection. More movement. More conversation.More… life in the room.There’s a reason for that.Slides and handouts absolutely have their place – I…
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🌿 The Heart of a Community Builder
People often ask me what it takes to be a good community builder.I usually answer: a lot of heart. 😄Community builders (yes, youth workers too – though this piece is speaking mainly to the community-development crew… and maybe also to…
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🌿 Being With, Not Fixing: A Soulgen Approach to Critical Incident Response
How People Reconnect with Themselves Again After Rupture 🌱 A Note Before You Read Most people know my work through Asset-Based Community Development (ABCD), co-design, youth participation, social cohesion, and strengths-based practice. But alongside this proactive, community-building work, I also…
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🌿 From Data to Dialogue to Concert: How Lithgow’s Young People Reimagined Their Town
When we talk about regional youth development, it’s easy to get stuck on the familiar list of challenges – boredom, long distances, substance use, limited activities, employment scarcity, family pressures, and service gaps. It’s a story many regional towns know…
Soulgen 