About the North Minneapolis Asset Project
The North Minneapolis Asset Project was started by the University of Minnesota's Urban Research and Outreach-Engagement Center (UROC) in 2011. In partnership with the community, UROC hoped to develop an interactive tool that could be used to build community capacity and improve health in North Minneapolis. We interviewed community members to gain input on the project and to discover what the community considers assets in 2012. Throughout the summer of 2013, the team, with the help of the Center for Urban and Regional Affairs (CURA), collected information and developed the maps on this website. The purpose of the asset mapping project is to create an interactive tool that can be used by individuals, community groups, nonprofits, businesses, and others in order to better understand and improve the community. Scroll down to learn about community and health assets and asset mapping.
The North Minneapolis Asset Project was started by the University of Minnesota's Urban Research and Outreach-Engagement Center (UROC) in 2011. In partnership with the community, UROC hoped to develop an interactive tool that could be used to build community capacity and improve health in North Minneapolis. We interviewed community members to gain input on the project and to discover what the community considers assets in 2012. Throughout the summer of 2013, the team, with the help of the Center for Urban and Regional Affairs (CURA), collected information and developed the maps on this website. The purpose of the asset mapping project is to create an interactive tool that can be used by individuals, community groups, nonprofits, businesses, and others in order to better understand and improve the community. Scroll down to learn about community and health assets and asset mapping.
About Community and Health Assets
Assets are the strengths and capacities that are already present in a community. While some of these strengths may be hidden, many of them are already being used to benefit community members. An asset-based approach to community development differs from traditional approaches to community development. In the traditional approach, an outside organization comes into a community to identify deficits or needs that must be addressed, looking at what is lacking in the community. An asset-based approach involves community members to identify what positive things are already present in the community and how these strengths can be built upon (1).
Assets can range from the individual level, to the community level, to the population level (2). Many assets at the individual level are usually overlooked by traditional community development approaches, these include individual capacities, skills, and relationships. In this project, we hoped to display some of these hard-to-measure assets alongside other easier-to-measure assets to provide a well rounded picture of the strengths in North Minneapolis.
An asset-based approach seeks to change the way we think about the community. Instead of focusing on problems, looking at the community from an asset-based lens allows us to see the rich variety of ideas that are already working. This approach gives us ways to build upon what is already present in order to strengthen the community and address any problems that we may face.
About Asset Mapping
Asset mapping is the practice of identifying and mapping the distribution of a community’s assets in order to gain a visual and spatial representation of strengths throughout the community. Asset mapping makes information widely accessible by taking complicated concepts and relationships and arranging them in a straightforward manner, which reveals interconnections between assets and highlights how to access the assets (3). Asset mapping allows all community members to understand this complex information and participate meaningfully in community development (4).
Assets are the strengths and capacities that are already present in a community. While some of these strengths may be hidden, many of them are already being used to benefit community members. An asset-based approach to community development differs from traditional approaches to community development. In the traditional approach, an outside organization comes into a community to identify deficits or needs that must be addressed, looking at what is lacking in the community. An asset-based approach involves community members to identify what positive things are already present in the community and how these strengths can be built upon (1).
Assets can range from the individual level, to the community level, to the population level (2). Many assets at the individual level are usually overlooked by traditional community development approaches, these include individual capacities, skills, and relationships. In this project, we hoped to display some of these hard-to-measure assets alongside other easier-to-measure assets to provide a well rounded picture of the strengths in North Minneapolis.
An asset-based approach seeks to change the way we think about the community. Instead of focusing on problems, looking at the community from an asset-based lens allows us to see the rich variety of ideas that are already working. This approach gives us ways to build upon what is already present in order to strengthen the community and address any problems that we may face.
About Asset Mapping
Asset mapping is the practice of identifying and mapping the distribution of a community’s assets in order to gain a visual and spatial representation of strengths throughout the community. Asset mapping makes information widely accessible by taking complicated concepts and relationships and arranging them in a straightforward manner, which reveals interconnections between assets and highlights how to access the assets (3). Asset mapping allows all community members to understand this complex information and participate meaningfully in community development (4).
Resources
1. Mathie A, Cunningham G. From clients to citizens: Asset-based community development as a strategy for community-driven development.
2. Pan RJ, Littlefield D, Valladolid SG, Tapping PJ, West DC. Building healthier communities for children and families: applying asset-based community development to community pediatrics.
3. Morgan A, Ziglio E. 2007. Revitalizing the evidence base for public health: an assets model.
4. Policy Link. Community mapping
1. Mathie A, Cunningham G. From clients to citizens: Asset-based community development as a strategy for community-driven development.
2. Pan RJ, Littlefield D, Valladolid SG, Tapping PJ, West DC. Building healthier communities for children and families: applying asset-based community development to community pediatrics.
3. Morgan A, Ziglio E. 2007. Revitalizing the evidence base for public health: an assets model.
4. Policy Link. Community mapping