The reading room
215 books, essays, projects and organizations the commons learns from. These are other people's work — each link goes to the original, where it belongs. They're here because the practices in the commons cite them.
mutual aid
-
Big Door Brigade Mutual Aid Toolbox
A comprehensive, online resource library covering concrete models for starting and maintaining mutual aid projects. The toolbox provides templates, guides, and lessons learned across multiple…
-
Community Fridges Mutual Aid Network
A network of public refrigerators placed in neighborhoods, public spaces, and community institutions where people can freely share food with neighbors. Community Fridges operate on gift economy and…
-
Little Free Pantry / Community Fridge
A small accessible structure stocked by community members and placed in a public location where anyone can take or leave food and supplies without paperwork, judgment, or eligibility requirements.…
-
Meal Train
A coordinated system where community members take turns delivering home-cooked or purchased meals to someone experiencing a major life event or crisis. Meal Trains reduce stress for people going…
-
Mutual Aid 101 Program
Shareable's introductory training program for mutual aid organizing. The program includes live learning sessions with experienced mutual aid practitioners and covers foundational principles and…
-
Mutual Aid Disaster Relief: Grassroots Solidarity Response
A grassroots network responding to disasters through solidarity (not charity), working with affected communities—especially vulnerable members—to lead their own recovery. Provides supplies, medical…
-
Mutual Aid Hub
A directory and network coordination platform that helps connect mutual aid projects and organizers across regions. The Hub serves as a discovery tool for people starting or joining mutual aid work,…
-
Mutual Aid Networks (MANs)
A networked cooperative model that combines timebanking, cooperative lending, and community currencies to create location-specific solidarity economies. Originally developed in Madison, Wisconsin,…
-
Mutual Aid Pod
A small network of neighbors or friends (typically 5-20 people) who pool resources, skills, and time to meet each other's basic needs directly, without relying on nonprofit or government systems.…
-
Mutual Aid: Building Solidarity During This Crisis (and the Next)
Dean Spade's foundational text on mutual aid as a grassroots theory and organizing practice. Published by Verso in 2020, this 128-page guide addresses why mutual aid matters, what it looks like in…
-
Putting Belonging, Reciprocity, and Care Into Practice: GatherFor in Brownsville
A case study of how GatherFor operationalizes abstract principles of community care through neighbor teams, Susu mutual aid practices, and concrete assistance, resulting in both…
civic media
-
Civic Information + Participatory Process
Civic media requires both: information meeting a fundamental human need, and a collaborative, responsive process (collective sense-making, action, or care). Motivation is infrastructure.
-
Civic Needs Cheat Sheet
Assess any civic media project across civic need, participatory nature, timeliness, conceptual ingredients, and two ratings (strengthens the civic body / strengthens the provider).
-
Hierarchy of Information Needs
Prioritize survival info (housing, food, transport, economic opportunity) first, then connection, then abstract.
-
Neighborhood Newsletter (civic media format)
Curated periodic email or print digest of local happenings and needs.
-
Public Accountability Dashboard (civic media format)
Visible tracker of official commitments and follow-through.
-
Public Board / Chalkboard (civic media format)
Shared physical surface as a daily community bulletin.
-
Story Circle (civic media format)
Facilitated in-person circle for sharing and preserving lived experience.
-
The News Futures Charter
News is an act of care: the News Futures Charter and its ten working principles for participatory, reparative civic information.
-
Two-Way SMS Info Line (civic media format)
Text a question, get survival info; two-way and multilingual, not broadcast.
-
Walking Tour (civic media format)
Resident-led or guide-led walk that surfaces local history and present life.
community organizing
-
Axioms for Organizers (Fred Ross Sr.)
The house-meeting master's aphorisms, distilled from forty years of organizing: 'Short-cuts usually end in detours, which lead to dead ends.'
-
Block Stewards (Common Agency)
Intergenerational neighbors designated as Block Stewards who serve as connectors for their block, helping neighbors discover each other, collaborate on projects, and self-organize around shared…
-
Building Communities from the Inside Out (the Green Book)
Kretzmann & McKnight's 1993 classic — the founding text of asset-based community development, with the needs-map/assets-map argument and the original Capacity Inventory.
-
Organizing: People, Power, Change (the Organizer's Handbook)
The 50-page guide to the Ganz organizing framework — five practices, public narrative, 1:1s, snowflake teams, strategy, tactics, and worksheets — adapted for community use and free to share and…
-
The Abundant Community (McKnight & Block)
The 2010 book arguing that consumer society turned citizens into clients — and that neighborhoods hold three abundant powers: the giving of gifts, the power of association, and hospitality.
-
Why Stories Matter (Marshall Ganz)
Ganz's short, canonical essay on the craft of public narrative — why social change runs on stories of self, us, and now, written for Sojourners in 2009.
storytelling
-
Community Lore: Storytelling and Newcomer Integration
A framework for understanding how communities communicate their identity and values through stories, artifacts, and practices that help newcomers understand their place within an ongoing narrative…
-
Community Plate Story Sharing Supper
Community Plate facilitates free, public, intergenerational story-sharing potluck suppers designed to build connections, address loneliness, and preserve community histories through shared meals and…
-
Narrative Arts (Storytelling for Social Change)
A framework and practice for using storytelling strategically to shift cultural narratives, build power, and drive social change. Recognizing that narratives—collections of stories embodying shared…
-
Story Sharing Potluck Supper
A structured community meal where people bring dishes and share personal stories prompted by meaningful questions. Story suppers recognize that breaking bread together while listening to each…
-
StoryCorps DIY
A community-based oral history program where organizations conduct recorded interviews between community members, preserving voices, building connections, and creating archives of lived experience.…
microsolidarity
-
Congregation: 8 Design Patterns for Gathering
Richard Bartlett's guide to designing large gatherings (congregations of 30-200+ people) that maintain relational depth, shared decision-making, and meaningful participation. This resource provides…
-
Courage Before Hope: Weaving Emotional and Economic Microsolidarity
Richard Bartlett's proposal for building communities of 30-200 people organized into small crews of 3-8, where emotional intimacy and economic cooperation develop together. This essay articulates…
-
People, Practices & Place: Community Design Framework
A framework for understanding how communities form and thrive through the interaction of three elements: the people (who they are, their relationships), the practices (what they do together), and…
-
The Reciprocity Game: A Crew Practice
A specific practice tool for microsolidarity crews designed to deepen relationships, reveal values, and practice reciprocity. The Reciprocity Game is a structured conversation game that helps crew…
-
Theory of Groups and Groups of Groups
Richard Bartlett's framework explaining how small groups (crews) scale into larger structures (congregations and networks) while maintaining relational depth and decision-making power. This essay…
facilitation
-
29 Ways to Increase Participation in Gatherings
A facilitation toolkit of 29 specific tactics for moving gatherings from one-person-speaking-to-many toward many-people-speaking-with-each-other. These practices cover warm-ups, interactive…
-
Art of Hosting
A facilitation methodology that blends multiple dialogue approaches—Circle, World Café, Open Space Technology, and Appreciative Inquiry—to enable groups to tap collective intelligence and respond to…
-
Open Space Technology
A self-organizing conference methodology created by Harrison Owen that replaces pre-planned agendas with participant-driven topics. Groups gather around a compelling central question, and attendees…
dialogue
-
All-America Conversations Toolkit
A facilitated dialogue process created by the National Civic League for communities to have meaningful conversations across differences, understand shared aspirations, identify divisions, and…
-
Living Room Conversations: 150+ Structured Dialogue Guides
A collection of 150+ carefully designed conversation guides covering topics from healthcare to belonging to money to family to criminal justice. Each guide is structured for 4-7 people to have a…
-
The World Café
A structured dialogue method that enables large groups (25-2,000 people) to have genuine conversation about important questions. Small groups at separate tables rotate members while keeping one…
bridging
-
Braver Angels Skills Workshops: Bridging Across Polarization
Skills training workshops offered by Braver Angels, a bipartisan organization dedicated to reducing political polarization. Workshops teach practical skills for navigating disagreement, finding…
-
Listen First Project: Coalition for Bridging and Dialogue
A coalition movement bringing together practitioners, organizations, and researchers working on dialogue, bridging, and social connection. The Listen First Project serves as a hub for the bridging…
-
More Perfect Union Brickyard: Service-Based Bridge Building
A network of locally-rooted organizing chapters that build connection and reduce polarization through shared service work. Rather than structured dialogue, Brickyard brings people together around…
housing
-
Bridge Meadows Intergenerational Housing
A cohousing model combining seniors seeking affordable housing and community, foster families needing support, and the children in their care. Elders mentor children, families support elders, and…
-
Cohousing & Cohousing Association of US
Cohousing is an intentional, collaborative neighborhood model that combines private homes with shared indoor and outdoor spaces. Rather than a legal structure, cohousing emphasizes active resident…
-
Community Land Trusts
A mechanism for creating and maintaining affordable homeownership by separating land ownership from building ownership. A nonprofit community land trust retains ownership of land while residents…
disaster preparedness
-
CERT: Community Emergency Response Team
A FEMA-sponsored program (conceived 1985 by LA Fire Dept, national since 1993) training volunteers in disaster preparedness and response. Operates in all 50 states plus tribal nations and…
-
Map Your Neighborhood
A disaster preparedness program that strengthens community resilience by having neighbors systematically get to know each other and plan together for emergencies. Mapping reveals who has critical…
-
Resilience Hub
A community facility that serves neighbors year-round as a gathering space and resource center — and shifts into a coordination point and emergency support center during disasters. Rather than…
community building
-
Community: The Structure of Belonging
Peter Block's 2008 book that reframes community building around 'belonging'—the experience of being part of something, having voice and agency. Block argues authentic community emerges not from…
-
The 5 C's of Community Framework
A community-building model developed by Sam Pressler through the Armed Services Arts Partnership that identifies five essential elements for sustained member engagement: Compelling activities,…
-
The Longest Table Community Meal
A free, open-to-the-public shared meal held outdoors at a long table in a public space where neighbors gather to eat potluck dishes, share stories, and strengthen neighborhood connection. Tables are…
civic participation
-
12 Empowering Ways to Engage in Civic Affairs
Shareable's guide highlighting diverse, accessible entry points for civic participation beyond traditional voting. The guide presents 12 concrete ways community members can influence decisions,…
-
Hosting a Civic Saturday
A secular gathering modeled on faith-based services, designed to strengthen civic participation and community connection through shared ritual, meaningful texts, and collective reflection on what it…
play philosophy
-
A Playful Path
A digital archive and celebration of Bernard DeKoven's legacy, providing access to his extensive writings, games, videos, and insights on playfulness as a transformative force. Functions as both a…
-
The Well-Played Game (Bernard DeKoven)
A foundational philosophy text by Bernard DeKoven exploring play as a path to human flourishing, freedom, and connection. The book articulates how playfulness—characterized by joy, creativity, and…
intergenerational
-
AARP Experience Corps: Intergenerational Volunteer Tutoring
An intergenerational volunteer program (founded 1996, joined AARP Foundation 2015) that engages adults 50+ as literacy tutors in public schools. Volunteers provide 6-15 hours weekly supporting…
framework
-
Asset-Based Community Development (ABCD)
A foundational framework developed by John McKnight and John Kretzmann that shifts community development from a deficit-focused (problems-based) approach to an asset-focused (strengths-based)…
-
Emergent Strategy
A philosophy and framework for movement-building and social transformation developed by adrienne maree brown, drawing on complexity science, natural systems, Octavia Butler's work, and 25 years of…
neighbor connection
-
Building Resilient Neighbourhoods (BRN): Neighbour-to-Neighbour Preparedness
A British Columbia nonprofit (founded 2012) strengthening community resilience through "Connect & Prepare" workshops. Brings neighbors together for three sessions on how social connections build…
-
Neighbor-to-Neighbor California: Community Resilience Through Connection
A $10 million California Volunteers Network (funded FY 2022-23) strengthening communities through social connection. Brings neighbors together for community engagement on climate action, disaster…
gift economy
-
Buy Nothing Group
A hyperlocal gift economy community where neighbors share possessions, gifts, and services free of charge. Operating on the principle that giving and receiving happen without expectation of payment,…
-
Free Stores & Freecycling
Community spaces and networks where people give and receive goods for free, operating on gift economy principles to combat waste, build community connections, and meet material needs without…
food
-
Community Fridges (Public Food Sharing)
Refrigerators placed in accessible public or semi-public locations where community members can freely share perishable food. Unlike little free pantries focused on shelf-stable goods, community…
-
Community Supported Agriculture (CSA)
A direct relationship between farmers and consumers where community members buy shares of a farm's harvest in advance, sharing both risks and benefits of food production. Rather than purchasing food…
critique
-
Connection Grift: Critique of the Connection Industry
A critical examination of four types of opportunistic exploitation in the civic renewal space: expert grift (monetizing connection advice), technological grift (selling loneliness-solving…
-
What We Lose When Optimizing Community
A critique of how treating community building as a professional, polished endeavor—requiring social media presence, graphic design, constant content—makes grassroots organizing harder to initiate…
local civic tech
-
Documenters: Paying Neighbors to Witness
City Bureau's model trains and pays residents to attend and document public meetings — 'putting every public meeting on the record' — now a national network, with open-source meeting scrapers…
-
The Civic Tech Field Guide
The world's largest collection of tech-for-good projects — 12,000+ entries, 500+ categories, a famous graveyard, and an open API — explicitly licensed for remixing. This shelf's civic tech research…
civic infrastructure
-
How to Think Structurally About Connection
A framework for diagnosing why communities lack connection by analyzing three interdependent dimensions: civic infrastructure (physical third places), participation mechanisms (barriers and…
-
What is a Civic Hub?
A guide from Trust for Civic Life explaining civic hubs as embedded community groups that act as bridge builders and connectors. Hubs coordinate resources and empower other groups to solve shared…
conflict resolution
-
In It Together: Conflict Transformation for Groups
A conflict resolution toolkit developed through the Interrupting Criminalization project, designed specifically for activist groups and mutual aid organizations. This resource provides frameworks…
-
NAFCM: National Association for Community Mediation Network
A membership association of peacemakers (established 1995, with roots in 1964 Civil Rights Act) supporting 400+ community mediation centers with 20,000+ volunteer mediators across the US. Provides…
indigenous wisdom
-
Indigenous Community Care - Traditions of Reciprocity
Indigenous approaches to community care centered on interconnection, mutual support, and reciprocity rather than accumulation. These traditions recognize all community members as valued throughout…
-
Seven Generations Principle
An indigenous decision-making framework originating from the Haudenosaunee Confederacy's Great Law of Peace (estimated 1142-1500 AD). The principle teaches that decisions made today should ensure a…
civic engagement
-
Join or Die Documentary
Emmy-nominated feature documentary examining the decline and potential revival of civic engagement in America. The film follows legendary social scientist Robert Putnam's research on social capital…
-
Microgrant Neighborhood Gathering
A simple funding mechanism that gives neighbors $50-100 to host their own community gatherings, removing the barrier of cost and democratizing who can convene people. Paired with organizing support…
libraries
-
Libraries Transforming Communities
A flagship initiative from the American Library Association designed to position public libraries as core community leaders and change agents. The program strengthens librarians' capacity to engage…
-
PLA Civic & Community Engagement Toolkit
A comprehensive resource collection from the Public Library Association providing evidence-based tools, training, and guidance for libraries implementing civic engagement and community-centered…
community health worker
-
MHP Salud: Community Health Worker & Promotoras Program
An organization (founded 1983) training and supporting Community Health Workers (Promotores/Promotoras de Salud) who are trusted community members providing health education, resources connection,…
-
RHIhub Community Health Worker Toolkit: Rural Implementation
A comprehensive toolkit from the Rural Health Information Hub compiling promising practices and resources for rural communities developing Community Health Worker programs. Covers program models,…
training
-
Midwest Academy: 50-Year Legacy of Organizer Training
Founded in 1973 by veterans of civil rights and anti-war movements, the Midwest Academy has spent 50 years training organizers in concrete organizing skills, movement methodology, and democratic…
-
Training for Change: Cross-Movement Organizing School
A training and capacity-building organization (founded 1992) that develops organizing skills across movements and issues. The flagship Organizing Skills Institute (OSI) brings together community,…
restorative justice
-
Peacemaking Circles
A restorative justice process based on indigenous teachings that brings together those affected by harm—victims, offenders, families, and community members—in structured, intentional circle spaces.…
-
TransformHarm.org
A resource hub for ending violence and promoting restorative justice, created by Mariame Kaba. TransformHarm.org curates and organizes materials—articles, media, curricula, and resources—on…
organizing
-
Public Narrative (Marshall Ganz)
A leadership framework that teaches people to craft three interconnected stories — Story of Self, Story of Us, Story of Now — to motivate others to join in action for change. It recognizes that…
-
Relational Organizing
A community organizing approach that prioritizes and leverages existing relationships and networks to build collective power and mobilize communities. Rather than cold outreach, Relational…
research
-
The Connection Opportunity: How Social Connection Reduces Polarization
More in Common research examining the empirical link between social connection and reduced polarization. The report demonstrates that people with diverse social networks and strong community bonds…
getting started
-
7 Ideas to Jumpstart Community Practice
Seven concrete entry points for people beginning community organizing work: protecting dedicated time, filling calendars with local events, reaching out to local leaders, subscribing to newsletters,…
tools list
-
A Megalist of Tools for Building Community
A comprehensive catalog of 55+ platforms and tactics for organizing communities outside social media, organized by function: invitations and events, signups, promotion, archives, communication,…
access
-
Access Intimacy (Mia Mingus)
Access intimacy is the sense of ease and safety disabled people experience when someone 'gets' their access needs without judgment or resentment. This form of connection enables authentic presence,…
social trust
-
Action Over Dialogue Report
Trust for Civic Life's research report presenting findings from a survey of 584 rural community leaders and residents about what builds trust and belonging. The report challenges assumptions that…
affinity groups
-
Affinity Groups: Forming Groups for Mutual Aid
A practical guide for forming affinity groups—small, decentralized groups of 3-8 people who work together based on shared values, trust, and commitment. This resource specifically addresses the…
public safety
-
Alternatives to Policing (Community Safety Programs)
Community-based response programs that address non-violent, non-criminal incidents, behavioral health crises, homelessness, and quality-of-life issues without police involvement. These programs…
vision
-
An Invitation to a New Civic Future
A vision for civic renewal centered on community agency, trust-based relationships, and local stewardship, emphasizing that renewal must be rooted in people who live in places and accountable to…
community_development
-
Appreciative Inquiry for Community Development
A strength-based change methodology that shifts community conversations from identifying problems toward discovering what's already working and envisioning what could work better. It uses a 4-D…
community infrastructure
-
Barbershop and Beauty Salon as Community Anchor
Black barbershops and beauty salons serve as critical community anchors—trusted social infrastructure where personal care, health information, community news, mentorship, crisis support, and…
tactics
-
Beautiful Trouble: A Toolbox for Revolution
A collection of over 300 stories, tactics, principles, theories and methodologies for creative activism written by 175+ frontline activists worldwide. The toolbox functions as a pattern language for…
agency
-
Becoming a High Agency Person
An exploration of what it means to have agency—the capacity to act on desires and see them materialize in the real world—and how developing this sense of agency is foundational to building…
justice movement
-
Beloved Community (MLK Vision & Practice)
Dr. Martin Luther King Jr.'s vision of a fully integrated, just, and peaceful society in which all people can share in the wealth of the earth and live together in genuine community. The Beloved…
neighborhood building
-
Block Party
A neighborhood gathering that closes off a street and brings residents together for food, games, and conversation. Block parties build relationships between neighbors who might otherwise pass by…
neighborhood organizing
-
Block Party USA Free Tools & Templates
Block Party USA provides free downloadable tools and templates to help neighborhood residents organize block parties. Resources include flyers, invitations, planning guides, and official…
social capital
-
Bowling Alone: The Collapse and Revival of American Community
Robert Putnam's foundational research on social capital decline in the United States. Using nearly 500,000 interviews over 25 years, Putnam documents decreasing civic participation, community…
technology
-
Building Relational, Place-Based Technology
An approach to technology development centered on building with communities rather than for them, emphasizing local scale, relational metrics over growth metrics, and intentional friction that…
support
-
Circles of Support & Accountability (CoSA)
A volunteer-driven community practice that provides intentional wraparound support for individuals transitioning back into community life, particularly people with complex needs who require both…
poverty
-
Circles USA (Bridging Class Divides)
A proven poverty-reduction model that builds intentional relationships across income lines, expanding the social capital of people living in poverty. Circles is grounded in research showing that…
grants
-
Civic Experiment Grants
Trust for Civic Life's grant program supporting 100+ pilot projects and civic experiments across rural America. Grants up to $25,000 fund innovative, community-driven initiatives addressing local…
measurement
-
Civic Health Index
A measurement framework developed by the National Conference on Citizenship that assesses community wellbeing through indicators of civic engagement: trust, participation, volunteering, voting,…
participation
-
CivicWell Participation Tools for Better Community Planning
A comprehensive guide to participation tools and methods for involving communities in planning for health-promoting land use and transportation, with specific focus on lower-income and underserved…
imagination
-
Collective Imagination Practices Toolkit: Tools for Envisioning Futures
An accessible collection of 16 practices, frameworks, meditations, and workshops for individuals and groups to expand imaginative capacity and envision different futures. Covers social, civic,…
street games
-
Come Out & Play Festival
An annual festival and year-round organization that promotes new forms of street games and urban play. Through festivals and recurring community events, Come Out & Play transforms public spaces into…
health
-
Community Acupuncture with Sliding Scale
A mutual aid health practice where acupuncture treatment is provided in shared community rooms on a sliding scale, eliminating financial barriers to healthcare. Patients sit together in a large,…
group process
-
Community Agreements & Group Agreements
A collaborative process where a group of people come together to create explicit, shared norms and expectations for how they will interact, work together, and handle conflict. Community Agreements…
childcare
-
Community Babysitting Co-op
A group of neighbors who trade childcare hours using a points or token system. Each family earns credits by watching others' children and spends credits when they need care. It's economical, but…
criminal justice
-
Community Bail Funds
Mutual aid organized around posting bail for low-income people arrested and detained, operating on the principle that no one should be trapped in jail because of poverty. Community Bail Funds are…
gardens
-
Community Gardens as Social Infrastructure
Community gardens are shared plots of land where neighbors collectively grow food and flowers while building connection across demographic differences. Research demonstrates gardens function as…
community development
-
Community Mapping & Asset Mapping
A participatory, strengths-based process where community members together identify, document, and map the human, social, organizational, cultural, and physical resources already present in their…
guidance
-
Community Tool Box: Free Guidance for Community Development
A free, comprehensive online resource from the University of Kansas containing 7,000+ pages of practical step-by-step guidance across 46 chapters on community-building skills. Provides a simple…
visioning
-
Community Visioning Handbook: How to Imagine and Create a Better Future
A step-by-step guide from Maine's Department of Agriculture for communities to develop shared visions before comprehensive planning. The handbook distinguishes vision (the dream of what community…
economic democracy
-
Community Wealth Building (Democracy Collaborative)
An economic development model that transforms local economies through democratic ownership and control of assets. Rather than wealth flowing out of communities to distant shareholders, community…
playground
-
Community-Built Playspace (KABOOM!)
A community design and build process where neighbors — especially kids — collaborate with expert facilitators to design, plan, and construct a new playground together over a concentrated building…
grief care
-
Compassionate Communities Movement
A public health approach to palliative care empowering community members to support those experiencing serious illness, dying, and grief. Emerging from Dr. Allan Kellehear's 1999 concept of…
accountability
-
Creative Interventions (Community Accountability)
A framework and toolkit for communities to respond to interpersonal violence — abuse, assault, harassment — without relying on police or the criminal justice system. It centers survivors, mobilizes…
death positivity
-
Death Cafés
Informal community gatherings where people of all ages, beliefs, and backgrounds meet to discuss death, dying, and mortality over tea, coffee, and cake. Death Cafés are agenda-free, non-religious,…
persuasion
-
Deep Canvassing
A structured conversation practice designed to shift people's beliefs through long, empathic one-on-one conversations. Developed by LGBTQ+ organizers to win ballot campaigns, Deep Canvassing uses…
disability justice
-
Disability Justice - 10 Principles (Sins Invalid)
A foundational framework articulating 10 core principles of disability justice as developed by the disability justice movement, exemplified through the work of Sins Invalid (a disability justice…
disability culture
-
Disability Visibility Project
An online community and archive dedicated to creating, sharing, and amplifying disability media and culture. Founded by Alice Wong, the DVP believes disability narratives are important and belong to…
youth activism
-
DoSomething.org
A digital platform and community hub empowering young people (ages 13-25) to become civic leaders and activists. With over 1 million active members globally, DoSomething.org provides youth with…
peer to peer
-
Ella Baker Center Resource Organizing: Peer-to-Peer Toolkit
A peer-to-peer resource organizing toolkit and curriculum from the Ella Baker Center for Human Rights designed to help people engage friends and family in campaigns, events, and movements. Shows how…
purposeful aging
-
Encore.org: Purposeful Aging and Encore Careers
An organization (founded 1997 as Civic Ventures) that harnesses talents and experience of people 50+ to tackle society's urgent challenges. Pioneered the concept of "encore careers"—distinctive…
faith based organizing
-
Faith in Action Community Organizing Model
A faith-based organizing model (founded 1972 as PICO, renamed Faith in Action 2018) where congregations of all denominations serve as institutional bases for community organizations. Uses…
disaster recovery
-
FEMA Community Recovery Management Toolkit
A comprehensive compilation of guidance, case studies, tools, and training from FEMA to help communities manage long-term disaster recovery. Covers organizing/leadership, needs assessment/planning,…
intentional community
-
Foundation for Intentional Community (FIC)
A registered 501(c)(3) nonprofit with 35+ years of service supporting the intentional community movement. FIC champions social, ecological, and economic justice through supporting and growing…
digital community
-
Front Porch Forum
A civility-focused digital neighborhood forum where neighbors post about local news, recommendations, concerns, and connections. Unlike algorithmically-driven platforms, Front Porch Forum uses real…
civic games
-
Games for Cities
A research and community activation initiative exploring gaming's role in urban development and collaborative city-making. Games for Cities creates platforms, knowledge resources, and networks…
community standards
-
Good Neighbor Agreement
A non-binding written agreement developed collaboratively between a neighborhood and a business or institution, designed to address specific concerns through mutual understanding and compromise.…
grandfamilies
-
Grandfamilies & Kinship Support Network
A network operated by Generations United (with four managing partners) supporting the 2.6 million children in the US being raised by grandparents, other relatives, or close family friends. Provides…
healing justice
-
Healing Justice (Kindred Southern Healing Justice Collective Model)
A political strategy and framework for building community-led, survivor-centered responses to collective trauma and systemic oppression. Healing Justice centers healing as a tool for liberation and…
membership
-
How Cities Cultivate Membership and Belonging
A toolkit of strategies cities use to transform residents from passive inhabitants into active collaborators and caretakers through structured life cycles of welcoming newcomers, deepening…
digital divide
-
How Our Online Lives Shape Our Community
An analysis of how social media and digital platforms create feedback loops that damage in-person community engagement, particularly affecting isolated individuals who turn to online spaces that…
collective grief
-
How to Hold Collective Grief (Priya Parker)
A framework by gatherings expert Priya Parker for creating intentional spaces to process collective loss. Parker argues that Western culture lacks language and rituals for shared grief, and that by…
skill sharing
potluck
-
How to Reinvent the Potluck
Shareable's guide transforming potlucks from casual social meals into intentional community organizing tools. By adding structure, facilitation, and shared purpose, potlucks become vehicles for…
improv
-
Improv Games for Community Building
Structured improv activities designed around spontaneous, scriptless role-playing and collaborative scene-building. Used in community settings to break down social barriers, build psychological…
relational organizing
-
Industrial Areas Foundation: Relational Organizing Network
A national community organizing network (founded 1940) that pioneered the modern faith-based and broad-based organizing model. Uses relational organizing—building reciprocal relationships within and…
interdependence
-
Interdependence Is a Survival Skill: Building Sustainable Mutual Support
An argument that while building community networks is genuinely essential for resilience, the emotional tone and approach matters enormously—framing community-building as an emergency project can…
interfaith
-
Interfaith America BRIDGE Curriculum: Building Regular Interfaith Dialogue
A seven-module training curriculum designed for college and university professionals to facilitate interfaith engagement on campus. Uses a "train the trainer" approach, with modules focusing on…
placemaking
-
Intersection Repair (City Repair Project)
A community-led placemaking practice that transforms urban street intersections into vibrant public squares through collaborative design, artistic expression, and infrastructure building.…
walking
-
Jane's Walk
A global grassroots movement of free, citizen-led walking conversations that celebrate public spaces and neighborhood stories inspired by urbanist Jane Jacobs. Walking groups gather annually…
leadership
-
Leadership as Hospitality
An essay reframing leadership away from hero narratives and heroic authority toward hospitality—creating conditions where others can belong, contribute, and flourish. This approach is foundational…
sharing economy
-
Library of Things Toolkit
Shareable's comprehensive 12-section toolkit for starting and growing Libraries of Things (LoTs) in communities. A Library of Things is a community hub where residents borrow tools, equipment, and…
community_building
-
Men's Council Program (Journeymen)
A structured deep listening circle program where men gather regularly to speak and listen truthfully with vulnerability and integrity. Guided by trained facilitators, these councils create safe…
structure
-
More Structure ≠ More Community: Minimal Viable Structure
A framework challenging the assumption that adding more structure automatically strengthens community, instead arguing for deliberately calibrated structure based on what relationships need to…
indigenous sovereignty
-
NDN Collective
An Indigenous-led organization headquartered in Rapid City, South Dakota, working toward Indigenous sovereignty and self-determination. NDN Collective combines grassroots organizing, philanthropy,…
civic infrastructure
-
Neighborhood Associations and Councils
Formal civic structures where residents organize to advocate for neighborhood interests, improve local conditions, and participate in municipal governance. Neighborhood associations range from…
systems_change
-
Neighborhoods as Systems Toolkit
A comprehensive guide and collection of 26 tools for community-led systems change at the neighborhood level. Co-created by Cincinnati Children's Hospital Medical Center with residents and community…
game design
-
New Games Movement
A worldwide initiative emerging in the late 1960s and early 1970s that fundamentally reimagined the purpose of gaming. Rather than emphasizing competition and winning, the movement created inclusive…
interspiritual
-
Nuns & Nones: Interspiritual Community for Justice
An interspiritual alliance (founded 2016) bringing together Catholic sisters, spiritually diverse millennials, and key partners to explore new forms of community life centered on repair, renewal,…
social_infrastructure
-
Palaces for the People (Social Infrastructure Framework)
Eric Klinenberg's framework emphasizing that democratic societies thrive through investment in 'social infrastructure'—public institutions, shared spaces, and community gathering places where…
cooperative
-
Parent Cooperative Preschools International: 50,000+ Cooperative Families
An international federation representing 50,000+ families and teachers operating parent-owned cooperative preschools. Model emphasizes parent participation as board members and co-teachers (one…
parish
-
Parish Collective: Neighborhood Church Network
An ecumenical Christ-following network of practitioners and neighborhood leaders reimagining what it means to be the Church in local neighborhoods. Operates learning communities, conferences, and…
democracy
-
Participatory Budgeting
A democratic process in which community members directly decide how to spend a public budget through collective deliberation and voting. Rather than elected officials or bureaucrats alone…
participatory research
-
Photovoice
A participatory research and community engagement method where community members use photography to document their lived experiences, identify community strengths and concerns, and share…
public_spaces
-
Placemaking (Project for Public Spaces)
A philosophy and practical process for transforming public spaces into vibrant community places through intensive community engagement, observation, and iterative design. Rather than expert-driven…
school play
-
Playworks
A national nonprofit organization that partners with schools and community organizations to harness the power of play for children's physical activity, social-emotional development, and academic…
critical education
-
Popular Education (Freirean Pedagogy)
A liberatory approach to education developed by Brazilian educator Paulo Freire that treats all participants as both teachers and learners, centers people's lived experience and knowledge, and aims…
neighboring
-
Porch Conversations and Front Porch Culture
The intentional practice of sitting on front porches and having extended conversations with neighbors as a form of neighboring and community building. When people occupy porches visibly, it creates…
community gathering
-
Potluck-Style Resource Sharing (International Food-Sharing Practices)
Communal meal practices where people gather and each bring a dish to share, creating collective abundance and building community connection. While potlucks have deep roots in North American culture,…
strategy
-
Power Mapping and Analysis: Strategic Campaign Planning
A strategic planning tool from the Commons Library that helps campaigns understand the decision-making landscape and identify leverage points. Groups map who holds power to make decisions, who…
neighborhood revitalization
-
Putting the Neighbor Back in the Neighborhood: Renew Birmingham
A block-by-block revitalization approach centered on relationship-building, resident leadership, and reciprocal service models that transforms community members from service recipients into…
bipoc organizers
-
re:power Grassroots Organizing School for BIPOC Organizers
An 18-week intensive training program specifically designed for Black, Indigenous, and People of Color grassroots organizers. Led by women of color trainers, it provides sustained support in…
food culture
-
Recipes for Connection
Surgeon General Vivek Murthy's initiative providing creative ideas for gathering over food as a response to America's epidemic of loneliness and isolation. The guide offers practical suggestions for…
repair
-
Repair Café
A free community event where people gather to fix broken items together with volunteer repair experts. Participants bring broken clothes, furniture, electronics, bicycles, and ceramics, and work…
music
-
Sacred Harp and Shape Note Singing
An American tradition of participatory community singing using four-shape musical notation that enables non-trained singers to sight-read and sing complex choral music together. Sacred Harp singings…
funding
-
Seattle Neighborhood Matching Fund
A municipal funding program that provides matching grants for neighborhood-led community improvement projects. Since 1988, the program has empowered residents to lead projects addressing their own…
guides
education
group dynamics
-
Social Capital Isn't Meant to Be Hoarded
An argument that affinity groups and bonded communities should leverage their collective resources and trust to benefit broader communities rather than remaining as isolated bubbles of personal…
peer support
-
Starting a Microsolidarity Crew
A small group of 3-6 people who commit to meeting regularly to provide each other with peer support, practical help, and emotional accountability. Microsolidarity formalizes the kind of deep mutual…
ecosystem health
-
Starting Something New vs. Joining Existing Groups: Ecosystem Health
An examination of how both starting new initiatives and joining existing groups contribute to healthy community ecosystems, and why neither approach is inherently superior to the other.
secular community
-
Sunday Assembly
A secular, community-based organization that brings people together in a worldwide network of over 90 chapters to celebrate life, build meaningful connections, and engage in collective action.…
startup guide
-
Sunday Assembly - Start Your Own Chapter
A structured guide and support system for launching a new Sunday Assembly chapter in your community. Provides frameworks, mentorship, and resources to help organizers progress from attending…
indigenous practice
-
Talking Circle
An Indigenous practice from First Nations peoples where participants sit in a circle and use a talking piece (feather, stick, shell) to ensure equal voice, non-hierarchical participation, and deep…
indigenous
-
Talking Circles (Indigenous Dialogue Practice)
An Indigenous dialogue practice originating from First Nations traditions where people gather in a circle to listen deeply, share truthfully, and make decisions collectively. Rooted in the…
abcd
-
The Abundant Community: Awakening the Gifts in Your Neighborhood
A book by John McKnight and Peter Block presenting Asset-Based Community Development (ABCD)—a paradigm shift from viewing communities through deficit (what's broken, what's needed) to asset (what…
gathering_design
-
The Art of Gathering
A framework for designing transformative gatherings that prioritizes purpose and intentional participation over logistics. Facilitator and conflict resolution expert Priya Parker teaches that…
governance
-
The Commons (Elinor Ostrom Framework)
Elinor Ostrom's groundbreaking research and theoretical framework demonstrating how communities can successfully govern and manage shared resources (common pool resources) through collective action,…
grief support
-
The Dinner Party (Grief Community)
A peer-led grief support community for people ages 18-45 who've experienced significant loss. The Dinner Party brings young grievers together around shared meals in intimate settings to normalize…
third_places
-
The Great Good Place (Third Places Framework)
Ray Oldenburg's foundational concept defining 'third places'—informal public gathering spaces beyond home and work where people congregate, build relationships, and sustain civic culture. Third…
rest
-
The Nap Ministry: Rest as Resistance & Communal Rest
A community practice and social movement founded by Tricia Hersey that frames rest as an act of radical resistance against white supremacy, capitalism, and overwork culture. The Nap Ministry…
interactive tool
-
The Perception Gap: Interactive Tool for Understanding Polarization
An interactive online tool developed by More in Common that reveals the 'perception gap'—how much Americans misunderstand each other's actual beliefs versus their stereotypes. Users answer questions…
resilience hubs
-
The Resilience We Want Guide
Shareable's 12-page guide for transforming community spaces into resilience hubs where neighbors build belonging, learn together, meet basic needs, prepare for disasters, and strengthen mutual aid.…
belonging
-
The Search to Belong: Rethinking Intimacy, Community, and Connection
Joseph Myers' examination of how humans experience belonging through four types of spatial relationships: public (crowds, large gatherings), social (acquaintances, networks), personal (friends,…
mutual_aid
-
Time Banking
A reciprocal exchange system where community members trade services and skills using time-based currency (time credits) rather than money. One hour of service = one time credit, regardless of the…
sharing
-
Tool Libraries and Maker Spaces
Community-based libraries and spaces where neighbors share tools, equipment, and knowledge. Rather than individuals buying expensive tools they use occasionally, communities collectively own tools,…
sustainability
-
Transition Network (Transition Towns)
A global movement of communities building resilience and sustainability by reducing dependence on fossil fuels and strengthening local economies. Transition Towns began in 2006 in Totnes, UK, and…
healing
-
Trauma-Informed Community Building
An approach to community development and engagement that recognizes the impact of trauma on individuals and communities, and intentionally designs practices, policies, and environments to mitigate…
interfaith dialogue
-
URI Interfaith Dialogue Tips: Designing and Facilitating Dialogue
Practical guidance from United Religions Initiative on designing and facilitating interfaith dialogue in communities. Emphasizes creating safe space, establishing ground rules, modeling dialogue…
aging
-
Village Movement (Virtual Villages)
A consumer-driven membership model where older adults aging in place create formal or virtual villages—geographically-based communities where neighbors commit to mutual support for aging. Rather…
climate adaptation
-
Warming/Cooling Centers as Community Hubs
Public facilities that provide refuge during extreme weather (warming centers in winter, cooling centers in summer) that are increasingly being reimagined as 'Climate Resilience…
professionalization
-
We've Squeezed the Life Out of Civic Life: Professionalization Critique
An examination of how professionalization and credentialization have damaged civic participation by erecting barriers that exclude ordinary citizens, replacing broad community membership with narrow…
learning
-
Weave Learning Center: Training for Community Weavers
An online learning platform providing training and resources for community weavers. The center offers courses, toolkits, and peer learning spaces for people working to strengthen social connection…
weaving
-
Weave: The Social Fabric Project
The Aspen Institute's initiative to strengthen social connection and address social fragmentation at scale. Weave identifies and amplifies local 'weavers'—people who intentionally build connections…
refugee support
-
Welcome Group Program
Together Project's volunteer matching initiative that connects groups of local volunteers with refugee newcomer families. The program facilitates social integration and settlement support through…
refugee integration
-
Welcome Groups Training Manual
A comprehensive volunteer training resource from Together Project for refugee integration. The manual equips volunteer groups with knowledge and skills to support newly arrived refugee families in…
welcoming
-
Welcome Wagon Practices (New Neighbor Welcoming)
Traditional and contemporary practices of welcoming newcomers to neighborhoods through intentional gestures, information-sharing, and relationship-building. From historic door-to-door welcome wagon…
age friendly
-
WHO Age-Friendly Cities Framework
A global framework developed by the World Health Organization defining eight interconnected domains for making cities inclusive and health-promoting for people of all ages. Built on UN Principles of…
youth leadership
-
Youth Participatory Action Research (YPAR)
A cyclical research methodology where young people investigate problems affecting their communities, analyze findings collaboratively, and use results to advocate for concrete solutions. YPAR…
youth development
-
YouthBuild
A global organization serving 'opportunity youth' (ages 16-24, or 15-29 in some countries) who are out of school and unemployed. YouthBuild combines education, job training, construction skills, and…