| Tool | Format | Brief Description |
|---|---|---|
| Examining Your Assumptions | Individual (or Group) Activity | This activity uses pictures to lead participants through a self-reflection to explore assumptions they make without knowing/seeing the whole picture. |
| Build Community: Focus on Assets | Group Activity | This group activity is designed to help leaders think about ways they can “change the language in communities” from focused on deficits to focused on assets. |
| Appreciative Inquiry [pages 32-33 of this Art of Hosting Guide describe the technique] | Group Process | Appreciative inquiry is a model that uses story-telling to engage stakeholders in self-determined change as they to discover, dream, design, and deliver. |
| Build Community: Focus on Social Capital | Information Sheet | Social capital is built through hundreds of little and big actions we take every day. This information sheet will get you started on building social capital in your community. |
| IAP2’s Public Participation Spectrum and other tools | Planning tool | The International Association for Public Participation, or IAP2, advocates for public participation and provides assistance to improve public participation. IAP2’s Public Participation Spectrum, used in this course with permission, helps define the public’s role in processes. |
| Participatory Decision Making: Criterion Grid | Tool/Tip Sheet | This is just one example of a decision making tool that can be “participatory” when a group talks through their understanding of options and their criteria. |
| Consensus Building | Information Sheet | Consensus is a cooperative process in which all group members develop and agree to support a decision in the best interest of the whole. |
| Community Engagement Assessment tool | Tool | Use this assessment tool to shift your understanding and/or your organization’s understanding of outreach and engagement. From Nexus Community Engagement InstituteLinks to an external site.. |
| Effective Listening | Information sheet | Listening invites participation, displays consideration, and models effective behavior. It also forms the basis of effective persuasion as leaders listen for motivations, concerns, and values in what others are saying. |
| Photovoice project | Video | Students from 13 communities across Minnesota, used photos to tell a story of what's going on in their community. |
| Community Toolbox | Toolbox | The Community Tool Box, from the University of Kansas, helps participants take action, teach, and train others in organizing for community development. |
| Good Questions Quick Guide | Information Sheet | This guide, created by University of Minnesota Extension Center for Family Development, provides tips and examples of questions to use with individuals or groups. |