Table 1 Asset Based Community Development (ABCD)

The basic tenet of ABCD is that assets exist in numerous domains in every community; these could be in individuals, associations, institutions, physical spaces, exchanges and even cultures. The ABCD approach relies on connecting these assets “to build communities from the inside out” [46]. In so doing this model reverses traditional perspectives which commonly define communities by their deficits – i.e. problems, needs, deprivation etc. The deficit approach typically begins with an outside group identifying a community’s perceived needs with a view to responding to them through programmes and interventions. This leads to stigma, it does not support any mechanisms to achieve ownership amongst community members and it denies the community the right to develop solutions from within [47].