Lens on Strengths: Youth, Belonging & ABCD

LENS ON STRENGTHS

Youth, Belonging and Asset-Based Community Development

An experiential professional development workshop

At the heart of this workshop is an exploration of how asset-based approaches can help us recognise young people as contributors and strengthen their sense of belonging.

It begins by noticing what young people and communities already have:

Their strengths. Gifts. Ideas. Creativity. Culture. Connection to Country. Relationships. Clubs and associations. Places. Stories. And their capacity to contribute.

Designed for people who work alongside young people and communities, this practical and participatory workshop explores how strengths, relationships, place and contribution can become pathways to belonging.

You’ll leave with practical tools, frameworks and ideas you can apply in youth, community and place-based work.

Bringing together Asset-Based Community Development (ABCD), place-based practice, youth participation and strengths-based approaches, Lens on Strengths returns to a deeper question:

What if belonging grows not only from being included, but from knowing that who we are, what we bring and what we contribute matter?

Too often, our work with young people begins with needs, problems, risks and service responses.

Those things matter. But they are not the whole story.

A strengths-based lens invites us to also ask:

• What strengths, gifts, relationships and community assets already exist?

• What can young people contribute, not someday, but now?

• How can places and spaces strengthen connection, participation and belonging?

• How can adults and young people share power and create change together?

Belonging also requires more than recognising strengths. It means creating welcoming spaces, removing barriers to participation, challenging exclusion and creating genuine opportunities for young people and diverse communities to participate, influence and lead.

WHAT WE’LL EXPLORE

Through experiential activities, practical tools, stories, real-world examples and shared reflection, we’ll explore:

SEEING DIFFERENTLY

Practising a strengths and asset-based lens while still recognising the real challenges and structural barriers experienced by young people and communities.

ABCD AND MAPPING WHAT WE ALREADY HAVE

Exploring the principles of Asset-Based Community Development and identifying the gifts, relationships, associations, institutions, places, stories and opportunities that can be connected and mobilised.

PLACE, SPACE AND BELONGING

Considering how youth centres, schools, community spaces, public places, third spaces and informal bumping spaces can create opportunities for connection, participation and belonging.

YOUNG PEOPLE AS CONTRIBUTORS AND CHANGEMAKERS

Moving beyond seeing young people only as service users or voices to be heard, towards recognising their rights, strengths, agency and capacity to shape community life.

FROM DOING FOR TO DOING WITH

Exploring youth participation, co-design, shared power and intergenerational leadership, with practical ways for young people and adults to work alongside one another and create the conditions for youth-led and community-led action.

FROM CONNECTION TO ACTION

Exploring what becomes possible when people, gifts, relationships, places and community assets connect, building social capital and turning ideas into practical, place-based action.

Throughout the workshop, we’ll keep returning to one bigger question:

What does any of this have to do with belonging?

Belonging is not simply being welcomed into a community.

It is also being seen and valued. Having something meaningful to offer. Being able to participate, influence and contribute. And knowing that our presence can make a difference.

WHO IS IT FOR?

This workshop is for people who work alongside young people and communities, including:

• Youth and community development practitioners

• Educators and facilitators

• Council and government staff

• Community organisations and peak bodies

• Foundations and social-purpose organisations

• University staff and students

• Young leaders and community collectives

No previous experience with ABCD is needed. Come ready to participate, reflect, connect and experiment.

PART OF THE BELONGING SERIES

Lens on Strengths is part of an emerging experiential series exploring belonging through different lenses, including young people, strengths, stories, play, place, facilitation, community and action.

Because belonging is not something we simply find.

It is something we continually explore, experience and create together.

About your facilitator

Dimitrios Papalexis is the founder of Soulgen and an award-winning youth and community development practitioner, facilitator, trainer and Certified Psychodrama Practitioner.

Named the 2019 NSW Youth Worker of the Year, Dimitrios has worked alongside young people, communities, councils, schools, universities and organisations across metropolitan, regional and multicultural settings in Australia and internationally.

His work brings together ABCD, place-based practice, youth participation, co-design, experiential learning, storytelling and creative facilitation. He is particularly interested in how people’s gifts, relationships and local assets can strengthen belonging, leadership and community-led action.

About Soulgen

Soulgen is a boutique youth and community development consultancy working alongside people, communities and organisations to strengthen connection, participation, belonging and shared action.

Our approach is relational, strengths-based, place-based and participatory. Rather than beginning only with problems or service gaps, we uncover the gifts, relationships, knowledge and possibilities already present, then help connect them and turn ideas into action.

About the Impact Story Lab

The Impact Story Lab, created by Digital Storytellers, is a co-working and creative space for changemakers, creatives and community leaders, designed to support impact work with storytelling at its heart.

Located in Darlinghurst, the Lab brings together people using storytelling, creativity and collaboration to contribute to positive social change.

Location: Suite 201, Level 2, 101–111 William Street, Darlinghurst NSW 2010.

Ticket includes lunch, refreshments, resources and certificate.

"Abundant communities start with making visible the gifts of everyone in the neighborhood, the families, the young people, the old people, the vulnerable people, the troublesome people. Everyone. We do this not out of altruism, but to create the elements of a satisfying life."

John McKnight