Previous WPI student teams that have worked with the Flamingo Heights community have utilized Asset-Based Community Development (ABCD). Their projects had a community-driven work focus based on the assets, or skills and abilities, of the community (“The Asset-Based Community Development Institute,” 2009). Identifying Flamingo Heights’s assets was the first critical step in this process. This was executed through interactive and collaborative methods such as interviews and open discussions. The project was developed together with the community based on the assets determined (CTPC Flamingo, 2013).

In drawing from both the ABCD and SAL project philosophies, the 2014 Flamingo project group found a balance of strategies and constructed the Participatory Development and Adaptation Process (PDAP).

PDAP was constructed to involve ”all partners in an improvisational design and construction process that sought to best utilize each partners’ assets and expertise” (CTPC Flamingo, 2014). The figure outlines the fluid process centred on collaboration. This includes constant updating as problems arise and documentation to keep everyone on the same page.

References:

 Brousseau, J., Ditroia, J., Ibelle, M., Monterroso, A., Olson, K. (2014). Early Childhood and Community Development in Flamingo Crescent — Building Opportunities for Children Through Community Initiative. Worcester Polytechnic Institute Cape Town Project Centre.

Enko, M., Lellman, M., Montesi, C., Plummer, C., Rivero Gorrin, V., Whitehouse, J. (2013). Community Mobilisation Through Reblocking in Flamingo Crescent. Worcester Polytechnic Institute Cape Town Project Centre.

The Asset -Based Community Development Institute. (2009). 2015, from http://www.abcdinstitute.org