2026 CDS Annual Conference

This workshop will address Community Currents: Navigating Change Together by providing a hands-on workshop centered on applied tools for the community development process. The agenda includes the following components:
o Overview – framing community development as a process
o Asset-Based Community Development—Asset Mapping as an applied tool for community assessment
o Data applications:
      • How to find and build on reliable data
      • Basics of economic impact analysis and
            interpreting multipliers
      • Data for decision-making—facilitating
            dialogue, using data as a tool
      • Understanding considerations in data
            collection and partnerships
o Facilitating dialogue for the community development process
o Sharing resources to bring folks together and facilitate effective processes
The workshop will connect to sub-themes of charting cross-sector pathways, connecting across rural-urban divides, balancing preservation and progress, and navigating generational partnership.
The workshop instructors are collaborators across the United States working with the Southern Rural Development Center.

The Youth Empowerment Program equips young people with leadership, advocacy, and civic engagement skills to influence processes and drive community change. Through experiential learning, mentorship, and collaborative projects, YEP fosters confidence, critical thinking, and a sense of agency among youth. Participants engage in real-world problem-solving, connect with local leaders, and develop strategies to advance equity and economic mobility in their communities.

Creighton Community Foundation (CCF) operates within low-income, food desert neighborhoods in east-central Phoenix, Arizona, where structural inequities contribute to limited access to nutritious food, under-resourced schools, and constrained pathways for youth advancement. Serving more than 28,000 residents annually, CCF advances a community-based model that integrates positive youth development with neighborhood revitalization strategies to improve life outcomes for high-risk youth and foster long-term community vibrancy. Consistent with community development scholarship that positions schools as neighborhood anchors and catalysts for social capacity-building (Chaskin, 2001; Green & Haines, 2016), CCF collaborates with school districts, local organizations, and residents to align resources, expand capacity, and co-create programs responsive to local priorities.

This study will employ an exploratory descriptive case study design to examine the role of community food access and placemaking strategies in strengthening youth development and neighborhood well-being. Specifically, the study will analyze how a community-supported agriculture (CSA) and edible garden model fosters social cohesion, intergenerational engagement, and shared ownership of community spaces. Descriptive, longitudinal community-level data will be utilized to assess patterns of food access, household stability, and youth participation in leadership and mentoring programs.

Drawing on evidence-based youth empowerment and ecological resilience models (Ginwright, 2010; Lerner et al., 2005), CCF’s programs integrate hunger relief, nutrition education, leadership training, and after-school engagement. By embedding food security initiatives within youth development ecosystems (Alkon & Agyeman, 2011; Kretzmann & McKnight, 1993), CCF demonstrates how school-community partnerships can disrupt intergenerational disadvantage and cultivate community well-being. This presentation highlights partnership design, data findings, and a replicable framework for community-rooted innovation.

Northern Skies Resort, a social-entrepreneurial hospitality enterprise grounded in regenerative and place-based values, is the first international sponsor of the WU Vienna University of Economics and Business Sustainability Challenge, partnering with Algoma University's BRIDGE lab, signaling meaningful bridges between northern, community-embedded enterprises and global sustainability education initiatives. The project aims at designing an authentic, contemporary tourism experience, fostering deeper connections with nature while tackling real-world sustainability challenges in cross-cultural, interdisciplinary teams within the organization, and building a long-term, sustainable business. The presentation explores how nature-based hospitality, technological advancement, and cultural storytelling can foster collective well-being, eco-consciousness, and sustainable lifestyles.

Engage in learning how the Savannah Plan of 1733 developed by James Oglethorpe aligned with CDS Principles of Practice Framework. The presentation will focus on how the good principles of practice have been enhanced as Savannah evolved through growth and change into a modern era while preserving its historical roots. 

Sir Patrick Geddes, the “grandfather of modern planning,” believed communities evolve like living organisms—shaped by culture, economy, and environment. While teaching in Scotland, I explored Geddes’ holistic approach, which anticipated today’s practices in placemaking, citizen participation, economic development, sustainability, land use planning, and historic preservation. His emphasis on collaboration, cultural vitality, and hands-on engagement resonates today. Geddes taught us to work with the natural energy of communities, bridging divides and balancing preservation with progress. This session reintroduces Geddes’ timeless ideas and invites discussion on what we can learn from them today.

Local governance is executed in a diverse range of settings, from formal councils to informal settings in the voluntary and private sectors. Determining action in these settings, however, requires discussion and debate before decisions are taken and executed. Using discourse analysis, this paper analyzes citizen-populated committees of council in an Ontario municipality to highlight the conversational strategies used to reach decisions. Up to now, the large body of governance literature has typically focused on how we ought to reach decisions rather than how we actually do reach them. Understanding existing practice points to more effective strategies for collective decision making.

In Western societies, contemplative practice is often considered an individual endeavor; however, throughout human history, contemplative practices—activities and rituals that nurture inner awareness and reflexivity have also been employed in the service of community connection and resilience. Moreover, these practices and rituals have had deep historical roots across diverse cultural traditions and have the potential to inform contemporary approaches to community development, particularly through the arts. For instance, in Hawaiian culture, practices such as hula and oli (chants) serve as contemplative acts that connect participants to ancestral knowledge, communal identity, and environmental awareness, fostering cohesion and shared meaning. Appalachian communities have historically used contemplative folk arts—storytelling, music, and quilting—as means of reflection, resilience, and intergenerational transmission of values, supporting both personal and collective well-being. African American contemplative traditions, including spirituals, gospel music, drumming, and call-and-response rituals, have long functioned as mediums for the collective processing of grief and trauma, fostering social solidarity, and cultivating communal empowerment. In addition to the Christian monastic contemplative practices rooted in medieval Scottish history and in historical Gaelic/Celtic daily blessings and devotional practices, folk rituals such as saining and caim open collective contemplative spaces deeply rooted in place, material culture, and embodied presence.
 
Envisaged as community development practice, these practices have the potential to nurture collective compassion, calmness, and creativity in the service of community wholeness. This paper provides visceral examples of how communities across cultures employ contemplative practices in response to natural disasters, political and economic challenges, and overall divisiveness within communities.  The paper is intended to stimulate healthier deliberation and debate about the use of contemplative practices in community development. 

This paper is a declaration for leaders to engage in ongoing and edifying activism in the form of Indigenous advocacy. Due to the unjust generational trauma of Indigenous peoples, this work promotes Indigenous authorship, participation, and empowerment, specifically in negotiated land agreements, commonly known as Impact Benefit Agreements (IBAs). Red Pine Economic Development Corporation (EDC) (pseudonym), a for-profit Indigenous organization owned by Red Pine First Nation, holds two IBAs that lack Indigenous participation, voice, and culture. To address this omission, this paper provides direction to Red Pine EDC to redraft a more fulsome cultural chapter of the IBA, involving Indigenous leadership in the form of an Indigenous-led Advisory Council (IAC). The cultural chapter will be a culmination of Indigenous sovereignty practices, language reclamation, and decolonization methodologies. 


This paper focuses on historic preservation connecting the past and future of Indigenous peoples by discussing the discriminatory history of Indigenous peoples in Canada and encouraging reconciliation, which is not a “one-size-fits all” solution to colonial trauma; rather, it is a practice that is unique to each nation (Peters, 2019). This paper directly relates to the theme “Community Currents: Navigating Change Together”, as this work focuses on the needs of Red Pine First Nation members. Community development as highlighted in the conference theme, is achieved when different forces converge. This principle is echoed in this paper as it calls for decolonization practices in resource extraction industries, such as mining corporations, a traditional capitalistic environment in which decolonization has not been prioritized. It amplifies Indigenous voices and promotes the peaceful and activist work among leaders from polarizing backgrounds; First Nations and mining corporations, to achieve reconciliation. Specifically, this work relates to the conference sub-theme “Harnessing Cultural Energy” which highlights the important role cultural traditions such as storytelling play in promoting unconventional partnerships to propel communities forward. This work utilizes storytelling as an evaluation tool which aligns with TribalCrit tenet number 8 which states: “Stories are not separate from theory; they make up theory and are, therefore, real and legitimate sources of data and ways of being” (Brayboy, 2005, p. 430).  Ultimately, this paper promotes decolonization and reconciliation practices between First Nation communities and industry partners in a manner that situates Indigenous cultural needs at the forefront. 

This qualitative study, as part of a larger mixed-methods study, explored the manifestations of community leadership structures –capacity for change, community growth mindset, civic engagement, and effective local leadership– and the differences in these manifestations between communities with a record of leadership success and their matched counterparts. Findings showed that a community's leadership system is highly complex and multidimensional, extending beyond individual leaders. Differences in the system between the two community types were also evident, especially in the type of community mindset, resilience to negativity, portrayal of a united front, and bringing diverse voices together.

Discover how to engage youth most impacted by disparities as community architects. This hands-on workshop demonstrates proven community mapping strategies that achieved measurable results—including 13% improvements in health disparities & developing $5 Million worth of amenities. You'll practice facilitation techniques that authentically center youth voice, engage in experiential learning on youth-generated placemaking tools, and develop intergenerational action plans addressing root causes rather than symptoms. Leave with a replicable toolkit for building communities where young people design the conditions to thrive. This experience will have you eager to implement it in your community immediately! 


This workshop embodies "navigating change together" by repositioning young people from passengers to co-navigators charting the course. A key indicator of community health is youth health—we show you with experiential learning how to use local data to engage youth and adults by centering youth voices and mobilizing change to develop thriving communities. 


Traditional approaches respond to youth & community crises reactively, like redirecting a current after it's caused damage. This workshop demonstrates how community mapping paired with results-driven frameworks and authentic youth engagement create proactive currents of change. Young people most impacted by disparities partner with community leaders (who act as listeners and historians). Youth dig into disparities and root causes, design solutions, create maps and together we build intergenerational partnerships where youth and adults thrive. 


Sustainable community change requires bridging generational divides, centering those closest to challenges, and creating structures where youth voice translates directly into thriving places, policies, and practices. Participants experience shared navigation tools—revealing assets, identifying equity gaps, and building collective ownership of solutions. 


Results demonstrate what's possible using the framework. In Frazee, Minnesota (population 1,300) over five years: 13% improvement in youth mental wellness, documented reductions in health disparity gaps, 370% increase in local volunteerism, significant economic growth, $7 million leveraged for community investment, and sustainable intergenerational partnerships.  


This workshop includes practical tools for shifting community development currents—where demographic changes, increasing disparities, and calls for equity demand authentic power-sharing with young people inheriting the communities we're building today. 


Activities: Participants implement the DREAMM Framework using results-based community mapping exercises with youth disparity data, working in intergenerational teams to translate insights into actionable program, placemaking, and policy recommendations. 
Learning Outcomes: 

• Apply the DREAMM Framework to identify root causes and prioritize community-driven solutions
• Facilitate youth engagement that builds sustainable power rather than extracts stories
• Translate intergenerational-generated data into placemaking, funding and policy strategies
• Design intergenerational partnerships that are sustainable
• Implement measurement tools & learn to use the data to leverage investors

Toolkit Includes: DREAMM framework, community mapping templates, fundraising framework, and partnership agreements ready to adapt for your community. 

Bridging Divides through Skill Development, Education, and Inclusive Community Building: The Case of Built Africa This academic paper explores Built Africa’s efforts in bridging the socio-economic divide between rural and urban communities in South Africa, focusing on education, skills development, and community engagement. It highlights the organization's impact on empowering marginalized youth and women through vocational training, conflict resolution, and inclusive community building.

     Though the origins of U.S. community development practice are contested, the 1960s and 70s are universally accepted as an important era for the institutionalization of the field. While community development integrated aspects of this era—grassroots empowerment, local participation, and a focus on community assets—much of the more radical elements of the time never took root. As such, this paper revisits the Marxist roots of cultural and political movements of the era to understand the utility of Marxist Theories—traditional Marxism, neo-Marxism, Marxist geography, and racial capitalism—for community development research and practice. Based on my work as a scholar-practitioner in housing, this paper illuminates how Marxist concepts and theories—such as alienation, real community, the intelligentsia, right to the city, and more—push community development researchers and practitioners to think more deeply about the systemic nature of urban and rural challenges, the path toward equitable, democratic, and sustainable change, and their own role in that change.