Case Studies
- Designing for the Bump
I keep coming back to this idea lately: the power and beauty of the small. Don’t get me wrong. We need the big stuff too. Better systems, better policy, better services, better places, more investment. Absolutely. But while we’re trying to change all of that, what can we do now, with what’s already around us?… Read more: Designing for the Bump - From Youth Voice to Youth-Led Possibility: Co-designing a Social Enterprise in Rozelle
What changes when we stop asking young people only what they need – and start asking what they care about, what strengths they bring and what they would like to create? In 2020, Rozelle Neighbourhood Centre contracted Soulgen to lead a three-month youth consultation and co-design process across Rozelle, Balmain, Lilyfield and the wider Inner… Read more: From Youth Voice to Youth-Led Possibility: Co-designing a Social Enterprise in Rozelle - From Passion to Action: Growing a Community of Cooks River Changemakers
What happens when you bring together people who care deeply about a place — not to tell them what needs fixing, but to discover what they already have and what they might create together? In 2019, Soulgen founder Dimitrios Papalexis was contracted by the Cooks River Alliance to facilitate a series of workshops for the… Read more: From Passion to Action: Growing a Community of Cooks River Changemakers - Central Coast Connected Communities: From Consultation to Collective Action
How a social cohesion initiative moved from listening and community engagement to co-design, local experimentation and community-led action. - Building Social Cohesion the ABCD Way: Reflections from Culture Waves
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 a workshop to deliver – but something to live and breathe through practice.… Read more: Building Social Cohesion the ABCD Way: Reflections from Culture Waves
Everyone has a story…
Enviro cafe codesign Rozelle…
NDIS what a good life is Albury
Everyone has a story Bayside
Youth Volunteering
Our Stories
Explore the stories that motivate us.
- Podcast Episode: From Passion to Action: Growing a Community of Cooks River Changemakers
Pip: What if the first question you asked a community wasn’t “what’s broken here” but “what do you already have?” That’s the thread running through dsoulgen’s recent work, and it… Read more: Podcast Episode: From Passion to Action: Growing a Community of Cooks River Changemakers - Children and Young People: Our Most Underutilised Community Asset?
What a walk through Parramatta reminded me about moving beyond identifying assets to connecting and mobilising them – and bringing places to life. At a recent workshop with Cormac Russell,… Read more: Children and Young People: Our Most Underutilised Community Asset? - What Christchurch Can Teach Us About Participation, Place and the Power of Experimentation
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… Read more: What Christchurch Can Teach Us About Participation, Place and the Power of Experimentation - Sustaining Place-Based Work – From good intentions to real impact
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… Read more: Sustaining Place-Based Work – From good intentions to real impact - Place-Based Leadership: The Practice That Brings a Place to Life
🌱 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… Read more: Place-Based Leadership: The Practice That Brings a Place to Life