Thinking About ASSETS

Concepts in Community Development September 4, 2012

Review: What are the 3 Es of Community Development?

Educate Enable Empower

Enable Means
To give or share materials, knowledge, or opportunity.

What are Assets?

Assets are people or things that are useful. In community development we have to identify what assets we have that can help us develop. We also have to identify what assets we need, and then make a plan to get those assets.
Enabling the community includes identifying, collecting, and using assets.

Thinking Time
Think about your hometowntake 2 minutes and write down the following things: What assets do you have in your hometown? What assets do you need in your hometown? * Remember, people are assets too! In many communities, there are many assets that the people do not have. They have to be creative and think of new ways to use the assets that they have to replace the assets that they need

Creative Uses of Assets

The One Orange Activity

1. Each student will be given one orange. 2. You have 5 minutes to think of two activities or lessons you can do with this orange. 3. After 5 minutes, we will share our ideas with the class.

When the Orange is Not Enough

Sometimes in our communities, we need assets that we dont have and cant make. This can include things like: * Some types of medicine * Cars or other forms of fast transportation To get these things, we need to use our relationships with people.

Social Capital
Social Capital includes relationships, knowledge, or access to goods or services that gives a person power. Social Capital helps us get the things that we need, but that we dont have. There are 3 types of Social Capital.

1. Bonding Social Capital

Bonding social capital is a connection with people like us. These connections are usually because we are similar, and we are friendly with each other. These relationships help us get by in times of need. Some examples are sharing rice with a neighbor, or lending your friend some money.

2. Bridging Social Capital

Bridging Social Capital is connections between people or groups with other people or resources that they wouldnt usually work or have a relationship with. This increases access to resources, such as education, employment, and training opportunities that help people in communities to get ahead. Some examples are a health trainer coming to educate a very small community, or a business giving jobs to people who have a disability.

3. Linking Social Capital

Linking social capital is an alliance with individuals in positions of power over resources required for social and economic development. This type of relationship is more up and down and connects people to important political and economic resources. An example is a relationship with a very rich person who can give money to you for a project, or to a person in the government who will help you make a new policy.

Quick Review
1. What are assets? 2. What is social capital? 3. What are the three types of social capital? 4. What are the three Es of community development? 5. What are the 9 values of community development?

Final Activity
Using the worksheet you have received, work in groups of 2. Take 20 minutes to identify some assets that we have at SSSNY. You can leave the classroom and walk around the compound to help you remember what assets are here. This activity will help you start thinking about what assets we have at the school, and also about the many different types of assets. We will come back to this discussion for a project later in the year.