Lessons About Community Change

The Roundtable has long focused on how the community building field learns about community change—especially on theory, measurement and analysis challenges associated with evaluating community change efforts.  A core component of this work is bringing together the concerns and priorities of policymakers, researchers and practitioners to make progress on barriers to learning from and making judgments about community based initiatives. The Roundtable continues to convene key actors, review key research and evaluation publications, distill lessons, identify new directions, and assist the field in taking the next steps in learning about community change.  Publications and articles from the Roundtable on community change are available below:

Publications:

Community Change: Theories, Practice, and Evidence, by the Aspen Roundtable on Community Change.  Washington, D.C.: Aspen Institute, 2004.

Living Cities and Civic Capacity: Leadership, Leverage, and Legitimacy, by Patricia Auspos et al.  Washington, D.C.: Aspen Institute, 2008.

Voices From the Field: Learning From the Early Work of Comprehensive Community Initiatives, by the Aspen Institute Roundtable on Comprehensive Community Initiatives For Children and Families.  Washington, D.C.: Aspen Institue, 1997.  (Available for purchase only).

Voices From the Field II: Reflections on Comprehensive Community Change, by Anne Kubisch et al.  Washington, D.C.: Aspen Institute, 2002.

Articles:

Contributions of Community Building to Achieving Improved Public Health Outcomes, by Edith C. Kieffer and Janis Reischmann.

The Contribution of Community Building Project: Crosscutting Issues and Lessons, by Patricia Auspos.

Community Building and Civic Capacity, by Susan Saegert.