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💡 About this project
This page sets out the context in which the project to map infrastructure for community asset development was initiated, as well as it’s aims and the team.
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Community assets and their development
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Community assets are the facilities, services and systems that support the wellbeing and functioning of a community. They include everything from community centres to housing, and from youth services to green spaces. Collectively, they enable people to live healthy, purposeful, and socially connected lives.
Community asset development is the process by which communities create, secure, improve, and sustain assets for long-term community benefit. It involves communities taking greater ownership and control over properties and land. The process often combines organisational development as well as physical regeneration of assets.
Source: RUSS
Source: Calder Valley CLT
Community assets function as forms of community agency rather than being merely physical structures. The collective stewardship of assets is as old as humanity and has supported the sustainability of communities for thousands of years. In more recent times, community asset development has often emerged in response to experiences of communities facing social and economic exclusion. In these scenarios, asset development is the reclaiming of spaces for everyday organising, the guardianship of land for the protection of nature and the building housing to provide secure homes. It is a practice that supports the survival and self-determination of communities, and acts as a tool in movements toward community-led, social and environmental justice.
Source: Hastings Commons
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Source: The Advocacy Academy
Community assets and their development are coming under threat. The stripping back of public funding, relentless regeneration of urban communities, and ageing leadership of community organisations have converged to undermine the sustainability of community-led assets. Communities now exist under a challenging financial climate, made worse by over a decade of austerity, the impact of the COVID-19 pandemic, global conflict and the rising challenges of political division.
In response, movements towards [building power and resources in communities](https://localtrust.org.uk/news-and-stories/blog/the-community-paradigm-a-movement-more-mainstream-than-you-might-think/#:~:text=Community groups were often first,the community is kept safe.) are gaining momentum. A new generation of leaders are now emerging ready to bring land, property, systems and services into community control. Community asset development is the movement by which this can happen. Meeting the scale of local needs and realising the ambition of communities nationally, however, requires an ecosystem of support. Infrastructure is required to provide the scaffolding to this work and offer the models, motivation and resources that a cohort of multigenerational practitioners will need to make progress.
The Ubele Initiative was commissioned by The Blagrave Trust to map the field of community asset development in England. Our focus was on building a better understanding of the infrastructure that exists to support community-led development of physical assets, such as land and buildings. Particular focus was given to infrastructure that supports, involves and is needed for marginalised communities, those that face social and economic barriers to owning and managing community assets, and young people.
The intention for this work was to highlight where further investment is needed in this field and to provide greater perspective on the field for asset development practitioners.
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Source: Every One Every Day
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Source: Material Cultures
Research for the project was be conducted using a variety of methods, including:
Our approach to this project sought to centre three core principles:
This project was commissioned by The Blagrave Trust and delivered by The Ubele Initiative. The delivery Team for the Ubele Initiative included:
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✉️ If you have any questions or thoughts on the project, please feel free to reach out to Callum Pethick from The Blagrave Trust ([email protected]).
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We would like to extend our sincere thanks to all of the organisations, asset developers and community groups who contributed their time, insight and experience to this project. Their generosity in sharing knowledge and reflections has shaped this output.
Community organisations and asset developers
We are deeply grateful to the community groups and asset developers who shared their practice with us. This includes The Highlife Centre, Pembroke House and The Walworth Living Room, Sister Midnight, Coffee Afrik CIC, The Beeches, Frontline Self-Build, Unit 38, Nubia Way, West Indian Sports and Social Club, Granby Four Streets, and Hastings Commons.