Not Quite Chaos

Summary

This report introduces two new guides, the Process Framework and the Structural Framework, that aim to bring order to the very organic enterprise that is resident-empowered change. The text — which dives deeply into Casey’s Making Connections initiative in Denver — also pitches a strong case for using these two frameworks to help move community building from a intuition-driven journey to a more disciplined and sustainable field of practice.  

Table of Contents

• Acknowledgements
• Table of Contents
• Abstract
• Preface
• Introduction: The Chaos, the Frameworks and the Real World
• Part One: A Process Framework for Community Building
• Part Two: A Structural Framework for Community Building
• Conclusion
• Appendices

Key Takeaway

Community builders just gained two new — and much needed — tools: the frameworks presented in this report.

This report superimposes two new community building frameworks onto an active Making Connections initiative in Denver. The overlap between the frameworks and Denver’s on-the-ground actions are striking and, even more, push readers to think more deeply and systematically about driving and sustaining community-empowered change.