Abundant Community

I was in San Francisco last week with John McKnight, Peter Block, Angeles Arrien and a number of old and new friends.  I will write later on the topic of our deeply satisfying discussions.

By coincidence, I was on hand to see John and Peter receive the first two copies of their new book: Abundant Community: Awakening the Power of Families and Neighborhoods It was a thrill to see their excitement. I have watched this book being written from afar and on one occasion sat in on a session between Peter and John, in Peter's home town of Cincinnati.  The book is a natural progression of Peter's last book, Community: The Structure of Belonging and John's continuing work and writing on Asset Based Community Development. 

Abundant Community  provide thoughtful insights on why we have 'outsourced' so much of the care of our children, our safety, and our health, to others. John and Peter offer commentary on how to make our neighbourhoods both livable and functional.  They see healthy neighbourhoods as critical to raising our children, earning a living, staying healthy, providing the food we eat, making our contributions, caring for the environment and caring for those on the margins of our society.

Abundant Community, also charts the satisfaction that comes when we join our neighbours to create a community that is family and child friendly.  It rejects the contemporary expertise of marketeers, corporations, institutions and systems.  And reports on a grand awakening in neighbourhoods – to the abundance of care, and connections; to discovering our own way and creating a culture made by our own vision.

Their book will be available in bookstores in a few weeks  but you can pre-order on Chapters or Amazon or direct from their publisher Berrett-Koehler.  While you wait check out  Abundant Community's new website

This inspiring website is devoted to ideas, tools, pioneers, strategies, and continuing commentary from John and Peter.

I'll end with my back cover endorsement of Abundant Community:

John and Peter awaken us to the seductions of technology, specialization, mass entertainment and the quest for perfection. They remind us we've had enough.  More important, that we are enough and have enough to do something about it. At a time when our yearning to belong has never been higher and the limitations of experts are strikingly evident, this book charts a renaissance of loving, human power.