Soulgen

Tag: community led

  • Designing for the Bump

    Designing for the Bump

    —

    by

    dsoulgen
    in

    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?…

  • From Passion to Action: Growing a Community of Cooks River Changemakers

    From Passion to Action: Growing a Community of Cooks River Changemakers

    —

    by

    dsoulgen
    in

    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…

  • What Kind of Facilitator Are You – Really

    What Kind of Facilitator Are You – Really

    —

    by

    dsoulgen
    in

    The more I do this work, the more I have come to see myself as a facilitator. A facilitator of people, teams, and communities through participatory, strengths-based, and relational processes. This week, as I train another group of Camp Venture facilitators – and as I prepare to head to Geelong for the Australasian Institute of…

  • 🌿 The Real Value of Asset-Based Community Development Training

    —

    by

    dsoulgen
    in

    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 the strengths already present in our communities. That’s where Asset-Based Community Development (ABCD) training continues…

  • Co-Creating Social Cohesion: A Soulgen Action-Research & Community Healing Initiative

    —

    by

    dsoulgen
    in

    Over recent months, many people across our communities have been carrying a heavier emotional load than usual. There is grief. There is fear. There is fragmentation and uncertainty. And alongside all of that, there is also a deep longing – for connection, belonging, safety, and hope. Moments like these remind us that social cohesion is…

  • 🌿 Beyond Empowerment: How ABCD Activates Youth & Community Potential

    —

    by

    dsoulgen
    in

    Across councils, youth services, libraries, neighbourhood centres and community organisations, one aspiration is repeated again and again: “We want meaningful youth participation. We want community engagement, we want empowerment. We want youth-led practice.” But in the rush to “empower” young people, our sector often relies on approaches that are important yet incomplete: Rights-Based, Participation-Based, and…

  • 🌿 Cultural Humility: When Cultural Competence Isn’t Enough

    —

    by

    dsoulgen
    in

    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…

  • 🌿 Place-Based Relational Praxis                   

    —

    by

    dsoulgen
    in

    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…