Routledge The Heart of Community Engagement: Practitioner Stories from Across the Globe (Community Development Research and Practice Series)

Drawing on first-hand accounts of action research in the Americas, Africa, and Asia, The Heart of Community Engagement illustrates the transformative learning journeys of exemplary catalysts for community-based change. Practitioners’ stories of community engagement for social justice in the Global South elucidate the moments of insight and transformation that deepened their practice: how to deal with uncertainty, recognize their own blind spots, become aware of what is emergent and possible in the moment, and weave an inclusive bond of love, respect, and purpose. Each successive narrative adds a deeper level of understanding of the inner practice of community engagement. The stories illuminate the reflective, or inner, practice of the outside change agent, whether a planner, designer, participatory action researcher, or community development practitioner. From a shantytown in South Africa, to a rural community in India, or an informal settlement in peri-urban Mexico, the stories focus attention on the greatest leverage point for change that we, as engaged practitioners, have: our own self-awareness. By the end of the book, the practitioners are not only aware of their own conditioned beliefs and assumptions, but have opened their minds and hearts to the complex and dynamic patterns of emergent change that is possible. This book serves as a much-needed reader of practice stories to help instructors and students find the words, concepts, and examples to talk about their own subjective experience of community engagement practice. The book applies some of the leading-edge concepts from organizational development and leadership studies to the fields of planning, design, and community engagement practice. Key concepts include the deep dive of sensing the social field, seeing the whole, and presencing the emergent future. The book also provides a creative bridge between participatory action research and design thinking: user-based design, rapid prototyping, and learning from doing. Review "The stories in this inspiring book are adventures in deep democracy– community building that includes listening to all voices, even under the most polarized conditions. These vivid parables help us cultivate the being skills that support the doing of collaborative action." ―Dr. Betty Sue Flowers, Distinguished Professor Emerita, University of Texas, Global Futures Consultant, Co-editor of Realistic Hope: Facing Global Challenges "In complex change settings where much more than 'head alone' is needed, systems thinking must be married with systems sensing, an attunement to the subtle dynamics of the social field at play and how they might evolve. This work is deeply personal and inherently trans-personal– a paradox that signals the mystery of the territory itself and, as Patricia Wilson shows, subtly points to the doorway through which it emerges in practice." ―Peter M. Senge, MIT Sloan School of Management, Society of Organizational Learning, and author of The Fifth Discipline "Patricia Wilson takes action research to its source, to the inner practice. This book is an invitation to a transformative learning journey with heart, intellect, and soul." ―Hilary Bradbury, Ph.D., ActionResearchPlus.com, Editor The Sage Handbook of Action Research "This illuminating book cuts to the core of community change with much needed practice stories, especially stories that bring out the inner experiences of the practitioner. The reflective questions after each chapter engage students in open conversation about their own growing edges, blind spots, and inner life as emerging practitioners." ―Ronald Hustedde, Past President, Community Development Society "The Heart of Community Engagement offers a clear and inspirational learning path for the co-creation not just of sustainable but of truly ‘thrivable’ communities built upon relational intelligence and socio-ecological consciousness. Indeed, this is a book for this day and age– and for t