Our History

The Central Coast Community Congress started with a conversation in the year 2000 about how people with a passion for working with communities might discover, collaborate on, celebrate and develop stories of community building on the Central Coast. The idea was to move away from a focus on needs and deficits and pay attention to the strengths, the resilience and the creativity of local people and workers on the Coast. We thought that this was a more positive way for building fair, vibrant and connected communities across the region. From the inaugural Central Coast Community Congress conference in 2001, the Congress Working Party have sought to change the language, culture and outcomes of community development on the Central Coast for the last 10 years.

The Congress event happens biennially and brings together community builders from the Central Coast and beyond to learn together and celebrate what is new and exciting. The focus for this event is on 'real people doing real things' with contributions invited for everything from workshops and presentations to performing arts, and 5 minute conversations about projects and activities that build on community strengths.

Early in our journey we discovered the work done by Jody Kretzmann and John McKnight in developing a language and approach that connected well with what the Congress was trying to do. This was Asset Based Community Development(ABCD). ABCD has had a profound influence on the way in which the Congress has developed. Both the language and perspective of ABCD have enabled the ideas and practice of community building from a starting point of strengths, to grow and evolve on the Coast over the past decade.

In 2003, the Congress Working Party adapted the work of Kretzmann and McKnight to an Australian context producing the 'Building Your Community. How to Get Started' Toolkit. This resource is available as a free download from the resources section of this website.