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Recreating the World
Michael Bopp and Judie Bopp
Four Worlds Press
Rooted in decades of work with indigenous communities in the Americas, as well as extensive experience in Africa, Asia, the Pacific and the former Soviet Union, “Recreating the World” is really two books woven together. The first is a down-to-earth exposition of models, principles and strategies for understanding what community development is and how it can be promoted. The second is a rich collection of stories, games, activities and tools that can be used to help others to learn about various aspects of community development practice.
In this book, building sustainable community is presented as a primary strategy for solving critical human problems. Community building is not merely viewed as a means to an end, however. Sustainable community is a basic human need, and in its absence, human life becomes distorted, painful, and often self-destructive.
In this interdependent world, at the gateway of the twenty-first century, we are all in the same life-boat. It makes no sense to be thinking in terms of “them” and “us.” As the inimitable Pogo put it, “I have seen the enemy, and he is us.” We are the environmental crisis, the debt crisis, the crisis in spirit, and the crisis in confidence in our leaders and our economy. And it is us, acting together in unity of purpose, and in a harmonization of our methods with our values, that will ultimately enable us to bring about the sorely needed transformation of the fundamental life-systems upon which our families and communities must depend for survival.
The approach to community development presented in “Recreating the World” is:
• practical
• principle centered
• participatory
• values driven
• aimed at fundamental transformation
• oriented to learning as a primary strategy
• culturally based
We invite you to think of community development not as merely rearranging the proverbial deck chairs on the Titanic, but as a process of transforming ourselves and our communities into new models of living that are truly life-promoting and life-enhancing for us, for others with whom we share the planet, and for future generations.
$42.00 plus GST (where applicable), plus shipping & handling
Click for more information (link to PDF flyer)
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Assessing Community Capacity for Change
Michael Bopp, Kathy Gormann, Judie Bopp, Lori Baugh Littlejohns and Neale Smith (2002)
This handbook presents a framework for assessing community capacity related to taking collective action to improve human well-being (i.e. health). Seven community capacity domains (i.e. categories of capacity) were identified and defined such as the capacity to engage community members in participatory processes, the capacity to effectively secure and manage resources, to systematically learn from experiences, and to continuously improve community practice. Simple indicators of ea
ch capacity are presented, and a process for engaging communities in assessing their own capacity to manage and sustain change is described in detail.
While the particular capacity domains identified are useful, what is most
important about this framework is that it is flexible and generic. It can be adapted and used in many different kinds of community development related situations, either to focus on a particular problem or issue, or to assist in building community for a broad spectrum of learning activities.
$25.00 plus GST (where applicable), plus shipping & handling.
Four Worlds Exchange
A series of publications that have been produced as a forum for the sharing of ideas, innovations, information, resources and technical information on the following topics.
1. Youth and Development (AT-400-1)
2. Surviving the Front Lines (AT-400-4)
3. Aids Prevention (AT-400-6)
4. Spirituality and Development (AT-400-7)
$2.00/each plus GST (where applicable), plus shipping & handling Questions? Email us: anyone@fourworlds.ca |
