Community Asset MappingMapping Assets for Biloxi’s Youth

Asset Mapping

Community Asset Mapping is a capacity-focused way of strengthening communities. It’s a positive approach to community development that avoids the traditional focus on a community’s needs and problems.

Asset Mapping

The community asset mapping approach:

• starts with what is present in a community,

• concentrates on the problem-solving capacity of locals,

• stresses local purpose, creativity, investment, and control.

Asset Mapping

Assets are the attributes of communities that its residents share and value. They are at the core of community life and central for the sustainability of the economy, society and environment in a community.

Asset Mapping

A map of the most valued aspects of a community serves as foundation on which conversations about how to enhance or leverage such assets can take place. It can inform strategic planning, and community & economic development.

Case Study

•First, a Community Conversation was held entitled "Our Community and Our Children - What We Want From Afterschool Programs & Activities in Biloxi.“

• Then, asset mapping approach used to build an inventory enabling further conversation about improving or expanding existing services, and to find opportunities for collaboration to better serve youth in Biloxi.

Kick-Off Asset Mapping Workshops

On Tuesday, June 30th 2009, Public Agenda in partnership with the Boys and Girls Clubs of the Mississippi Gulf Coast held two Asset Mapping workshops to begin to identify and collect the resources and assets available to Biloxi’s youth.

Kick-Off Asset Mapping Workshops

40 Biloxi residents, consisting of 20 young people (ages 13-18) and 20 adults representing various community organizations located in the city of Biloxi and the Gulf Coast, gathered to share their thoughts and opinions.

BiloxiYouthAssets.org

To enable a broader group of interested citizens and stakeholders in the community to participate in the asset mapping process, Public Agenda created an interactive Asset Mapping website in addition to the workshops.

BiloxiYouthAssets.org

Results of the workshops were quickly posted online after each event. Workshop participants and others who logged on were able to edit or add information to the assets.

BiloxiYouthAssets.org

The website served as a repository for everything that had been collected, whether during the workshops or online.

BiloxiYouthAssets.org

The website became a broad repository and a venue to start discussing how to leverage and communicate about the assets.

Next Steps Workshop

Finally, Asset Mapping was only a first step. It is critical to involve representatives of each of the assets as well as community members in a discussion about how to move forward based on the new knowledge that has been created.

About Public Agenda

• Non-profit, non-partisan organization

• Mission is to “bridge the gap” between leaders and the public

• Public opinion research on policy issues

• Public/citizen engagement

• Over thirty years of experience engaging and listening to the public

• Issues vary from education to health care, taxes, foreign policy, the federal budget, etc.

www.publicagenda.org

Contact

Chris HallerOnline Engagement Manager

challer@publicagenda.org

303-800-6368

Images courtesy of: Flatbush Gardener, richardmasoner, Chris Haller

Lara BirnbackExecutive Project Director for Public Engagement

lbirnback@publicagenda.org

212-686-6610

www.publicagenda.org