Engaging Communities Through Issues Forums

Strategic Doing™ is an approach that engages people in identifying the future as they would like it to be, identifying available resources and creating steps toward that vision thereby moving people toward action. There are more details about this process in this how-to guide. More information can be found here at https://strategicdoing.net/

Principle 4. Solutions are Multi-level, Innovative, and Build on Existing Assets

One approach to achieving solutions to complex social issues is by building social capital as part of asset-based community development. More information is available at: https://resources.depaul.edu/abcd- institute/Pages/default.aspx.

Asset-based social capital building focuses on strengths and potential rather than deficits and needs. This principle informs the approach to facilitation of forums and encourages work across boundaries to achieve community and state-level change (Kretzmann & McKnight, 1993). Assets can be people, places, funding, and any other resource that people or organizations are willing to share and/or cultivate. By focusing and building on the resources and assets already held, solutions developed from forums can create movement forward. Action is not thwarted by "lack of resources." In this way, collaborative innovation can be created, and improvement efforts can be more effective. When community members dedicate their time and talents to change they desire, the results can be more appropriate to the community and long-lasting.

Additional Cooperative Extension asset-building resources can be found at https://community- development.extension.org/

Principle 5. How Issues are Named and Framed Helps to Engage Community Participation

Once you have identified a topic and conducted a literature review to gather additional information, key informant interviews and/or focus groups can then be used to explore the issue further. Interviews and focus groups provide local perspective on the problem(s) or issue(s). They also can assist in identifying relevant sub-issues or topics to be addressed.