Welcome to our Community Connections Hub

Community Champions Building Stronger Neighbourhoods Together

We are an Edmonton-based community of practice for those building connections and belonging in their neighborhoods.

Are you passionate about building stronger communities? Want to meet others who share your passion? Come along to one of our regular community of practice meetups where neighbours from communities across the city gather to explore strategies, celebrate successes and support each other in building more resilient and inclusive communities.

Why Community Connections Matter

Research consistently shows that strong and weak community ties lead to happier, healthier and more resilient neighbourhoods. According to Statistics Canada, “13% of people age 15 and older report always or often feeling lonely.”

We are all a part of a community because we live in a neighbourhood, but not everyone feels a sense of belonging and connection to their neighbourhood. Building connections between neighbours is one of the most powerful and simplest ways to combat loneliness and improve the well-being of citizens.

More about this Community of Practice

Our group applies an ABCD Model of Practice. The guiding principle of Asset-Based Community Development (ABCD) is that we already have everything we need right in our communities. If we discover and tap into the gifts and strengths of the people in our neighbourhoods, we can create something greater than the sum of its parts. “ABCD goes beyond any individual’s gifts of a particular group’s strengths to consider how these may come together to create broader changes for the common good within a community” (Tamarack, 2019)

A Little History: Edmonton’s Abundant Community Initiative

Abundant Communities Edmonton (ACE) was a grassroots movement started by Howard Lawrence in 2013. What began as a series of gatherings in Howard’s home eventually became an initiative funded by the City of Edmonton. Many communities in Edmonton have been inspired to start their own Abundant Communities activities.

This page and interview shares the history of Edmonton’s Abundant Community initiative:

 

In 2023, the City of Edmonton shifted the Abundant Communities Edmonton (ACE) program. Rather than being a program of the Neighbourhood Services, the principles of ACE are being integrated into the work of the Neighbourhood Resource Coordinators throughout the city. Several community members who previously participated in the ACE Community of Practice meetings had a desire to keep these meetings going and have now partnered with the Edmonton Federation of Community Leagues (EFCL) to create this platform to continue talking about community connections and the principles of ABCD.

Resources and Reading

Online Resources:

 

Books

  • The Abundant Community by John McKnight and Peter Block
  • Community: The Structure of Belonging by Peter Block
  • Rekindling Democracy by Cormac Russell