Blog – Soulgen

At first glance, some people may not immediately connect social cohesion programs like Culture Waves with ABCD (Asset-Based Community Development).But for me, the links are very real.Perhaps because I have never experienced ABCD simply as a framework to preach or…

What Christchurch Can Teach Us About Participation, Place and the Power of Experimentation

May 9, 2026

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by

dsoulgen

in News

At dinner last night after an AANZPA Executive meeting, Simon from Christchurch shared stories about a local initiative called Gap Filler – a creative urban regeneration social enterprise that emerged after the devastating earthquakes in Ōtautahi Christchurch. I found myself…

Sustaining Place-Based Work – From good intentions to real impact

Apr 19, 2026

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by

dsoulgen

in Frameworks for Change, News

In a recent article, I explored place-based leadership as the practice that brings a place to life. By place-based work, I mean approaches that start with a particular community or locality – its people, relationships, strengths, history, challenges and possibilities…

Evaluating What Matters in Youth & Community Work Why we need to measure more than just numbers

Apr 16, 2026

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by

dsoulgen

in Frameworks for Change

Most evaluation frameworks fail to capture what actually matters in youth and community work.They measure outputs – attendance, participation rates, number of activities delivered.But they often miss the deeper shifts that determine whether something truly works: These are not side…

Third Spaces: The Missing Infrastructure of Belonging

Apr 7, 2026

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by

dsoulgen

in Uncategorised

There’s something happening beneath the surface of our communities.You can feel it in conversations.You can see it in the way people move through spaces.You can hear it in what’s said – and what’s not being said.People are around each other…but…

Place-Based Leadership: The Practice That Brings a Place to Life

Apr 2, 2026

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by

dsoulgen

in News

🌱 Introduction There is a lot of strong thinking in the sector right now about place-based approaches, place strategies, social cohesion, participation, community development and systems change. Across policy and practice, the language of “place” is far more common than…

More Than a Building: Reflections from Deniliquin on recovery, participation, and doing things the right way

Mar 14, 2026

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by

dsoulgen

in Frameworks for Change

Sometimes, you travel to a town to scope the activation of a youth hub, and instead, you arrive in a community still in shock.When I arrived in Deniliquin for the first visit to explore the activation of a youth hub,…

Stronger Together Three ABCD lessons on why competing in the public and community sector is a dead end

Mar 2, 2026

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by

dsoulgen

in Frameworks for Change

In the public, community, and NGO sector, competition has quietly become normal.Organisations compete for funding, visibility, territory, influence, and expertise. We often accept this as “just the way it is”, even though it feels absurd and misaligned with why many…

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