The Creative Community Builder's Handbook: How to Transform Communities Using Local Assets, Arts, and Culture

by Tom Borrup

Put the power of arts and culture to work in your community Part 1 of this unique guide distills research and emerging ideas behind culturally driven community development and explains key underlying principles. You'll understand the arts impact on community well-being and have the rationale for engaging others. Find inspiration and ideas from twenty case studies Part 2 gives you ten concrete strategies for building on the unique qualities of your own community. Each strategy is illustrated by two case studies taken from a variety of cities, small towns, and neighborhoods across the United States. You'll learn how people from all walks of life used culture and creativity as a glue to bind together people, ideas, enterprises, and institutions to make places more balanced and healthy. These examples are followed in Part 3 with six steps to assessing, planning, and implementing creative community building projects: 1. Assess Your Situation and Goals; 2. Identify and Recruit Effective Partners; 3. Map Values, Strengths, Assets, and History; 4. Focus on Your Key Asset, Vision, Identity, and Core Strategies; 5. Craft a Plan That Brings the Identity to Life; 6. Secure Funding, Policy Support, and Media Coverage. Detailed guidance, hands-on worksheets, and a hypothetical community sample walk you through the entire process. Each section includes additional resources as well as an appendix listing books, web sites, organizations, and research studies. By understanding the theoretical context (Part 1), learning from case studies (Part 2), and following the six steps (Part 3), you'll be able to build a more vibrant, creative, and equitable community.

Genres: Urban Planning, Textbooks

280 pages, Paperback

First published August 2, 2006

Reviews

[Richfield Branch · Rating 5 out of 5]

Part three incredibly helpful- Steps needed to take. A how-to.
There area 10 strategies or goals, such include: create jobs, diversify the economy, promote interaction in public space, and engage youth.

Recommended for any professional collection, you will refer back often if you are interested in this work, or any kind of asset mapping and serious/grand scale engagement.

[Susan · Rating 5 out of 5]

A book that gave my dream career a name, along with tangible steps and working examples of current community builders. Awesome resource for those wishing to transform their community through the arts, and bring love into an area that deserves it.

[Melissa Robinson · Rating 4 out of 5]

Love it, but WHERE are libraries?? :(