Just as buying a hen can provide much more than a box of eggs, appreciating assets is an approach being used in community development to support practitioners and communities to invest valuable time, resources and energy into things that have the most potential to prosper and grow in the longer term [see for example Carnegie Trust UK].
Perth & Kinross, has a combination of towns and villages alongisde agricultural and natural landscapes that surround the main city of Perth. A key challenge that the Gannochy Trust, Perth & Kinross Council and the strategic youth work partners seek to understand, is how to make youth work accessible or in other words 'universal' to young people that wish to take part, from across such a diverse geographical area.
With a focus on organisations, year two brought an opportunity to use an asset based approach to identify the potential in each organisation and their local context.
The Carnegie model refers to seven asset areas:
1. Financial
2. Built
3. Social
4. Human
5. Natural
6. Cultural
7. Political
It was agreed that the evaluation would focus on two of these: Natural and Human assets. 'Digital' assets were added, to account for the shift to remote digital engagement during the pandemic. This report showcases the efforts made by partner youth organisations as they responded during extraordinary times.
Photo by Logos