Growing Greenup - Centering Community Well-Being

Growing Greenup

Centering Community Well-Being

Anne Stephens

For The Ashland Beacon

A publication from Aspen Institute Community Strategies Group, "Four Principles for Fostering Community Well-Being with Asset-Based Development", was recently shared with me by my UK Extension partners, Blueprint Kentucky. The recently released report features quotes from Blueprint Kentucky's Shane Barton. I have had the pleasure of attending multiple training courses led by Shane and was interested to read about this topic. The publication shares how communities, funders, and policymakers can align around shared goals, invest in social determinants of health, and redefine success. 

I was most interested in the part about Creating New Opportunities from Existing Assets. The following contains excerpts from that publication:

We all want each and every person to live a healthy, thriving life supported by strong communities and economic opportunity. In rural and Indigenous places, this vision is challenged by systemic inequities and historic disinvestment. Still, people in these communities show resilience, innovation, and leadership. By working across sectors, centering local voices, and using an asset-based approach to economic development, we can build fairer systems that reflect community strengths and priorities.

Conversations about health and well-being traditionally focus on access to and affordability of health care. With the development and adoption of the social determinants of health, which focus on a broader set of areas that influence how “healthy” someone’s life is, the rural development field has moved towards referring to “well-being” as a much more interconnected and interdependent frame with other community development interventions.

Social determinants are the social, economic, and environmental factors necessary to reduce the health and economic disparities prevalent in rural and Indigenous communities. Social determinants of health include factors like poverty, availability of stable employment and income, educational attainment and literacy, safe housing, access to safe and affordable transportation, access to healthy and affordable food, quality healthcare, access to community infrastructure, lack of discrimination barriers, access to human and medical services, among others.

In Indigenous communities and communities of color, additional factors come into play, such as self-determination, access and utilization of traditional land and healing resources, historical trauma, race-based discrimination, social exclusion, and cultural continuity. Fair and just progress requires community-led efforts, where communities define their own visions of health and well-being. This approach fosters the buy-in and coalition-building necessary to cross issue-area silos and implement policies and practices that reflect a community’s unique definitions and goals.

Community-led efforts take time and investment in relationship and consensus building, which must be seen as vital for long-term success. Achieving well-being in rural and Indigenous communities requires understanding and collaboration among residents, the private sector, government, nonprofits, and philanthropy.

An asset-based economic development approach starts with identifying and building upon the strengths or “capitals” that are present in communities, shifting away from the traditional deficit-based perspective.

Report participants mentioned the need to ask communities the following question to lead to shared goals: What would you want your community to be like for your kids both now and in the future? Sometimes we focus on the negative aspects of our community and try to make them better. But how can we focus on the positives and work to build on what we already have?

Integrating Well-Being as a Regional Measure of Success:

1. Adopt the WealthWorks capitals as a shared language: Work with community leaders and members to recognize and map assets across the eight forms of wealth, creating a common foundation for understanding and action.

2. Create spaces for collaboration: Establish both physical and virtual venues for sharing challenges, solving problems, and building trust.

3. Build relationships and partnerships early and often: Focus on growing social capital and establishing collaborative networks beyond immediate grant opportunities.

4. Align on a shared understanding of well-being: Invite diverse perspectives and worldviews, understanding that many things can exist at the same time. Engage with community members to identify what matters most to them. A collection of shared metrics of success is essential for building coalitions and fostering a sense of mutual benefit.

5. Start small to build trust: Before tackling larger initiatives, begin with smaller, manageable projects and groups to cultivate relationships and trust.

6. Develop a community prospectus: Showcase the community’s assets and shared goals to both internal and external audiences. This prospectus can highlight strengths and articulate collective aspirations.

By following these steps, communities can strengthen their assets, build trust, and advance toward a more sustainable and equitable vision of regional well-being.

If you are interested in reading the entire publication, visit https://www.aspencsg.org/four-principles-for-fostering-community-well-being-with-asset-based-development/ Greenup Arts is proud to be part of the community development process and encourages everyone to be curious and interested in what our community is planning and doing to be stronger in the future.

For more information, contact Anne Stephens, Agent for Community Arts and Development in Greenup County. 606.836.0201 anne.stephens@uky.edu 35 Wurtland Avenue, Wurtland, KY 41144 The Martin-Gatton College of Agriculture, Food and Environment is an Equal Opportunity Organization with respect to education and employment and authorization to provide research, education information and other services only to individuals and institutions that function without regard to economic or social status and will not discriminate on the basis of race, color, ethnic origin, national origin, creed, religion, political belief, sex, sexual orientation, gender identity, gender expression, pregnancy, marital status, genetic information, age, veteran status, physical or mental disability or reprisal or retaliation for prior civil rights activity. University of Kentucky, Kentucky State University, U.S. Department of Agriculture, and Kentucky counties, cooperating.