''The Community Builder''s Journal offers a year of weekly reflections and experiments to help readers strengthen the ties that make communities thrive. Each entry blends story, practice and a shared recipe, turning everyday acts of care into opportunities for connection. Practical and hopeful, it''s a resource for communities that want to grow more collaborative, creative and compassionate.''Andrew Leigh MP, Assistant Minister for Charities and co-author of ''Reconnected: A Community Builder''s Handbook''''The Community Builder''s Journal is a powerful catalyst for reimagining our connections, inviting us to embrace the transformative potential of community development and place conscious pedagogy. With its thoughtful prompts and practical guidance, it enables us to cultivate belonging in every corner of our lives and local places.''Cormac Russell, co-author of ''The Connected Community and author of Rekindling Democracy''''We all know that humans are social creatures who need groups and communities of all kinds - especially local communities - to nurture and sustain us, and to give us that all-important sense of belonging that is so fundamental to our mental and emotional health. And yet, we are suffering epidemics of loneliness, anxiety and depression fuelled by social fragmentation and isolation. What''s to be done? With the publication of The Community Builder''s Journal we now have a solution.

Wise, sane and realistic, this book is a treasure-trove of intensely practical advice for community-building, based on the authors'' rich experience.If you want to be part of a quiet revolution that will improve the mental and emotional health of the nation, start local . and start with this book.''Hugh Mackay, social psychologist and author''The Community Builder''s Journal is a beautifully illustrated, extraordinary weaving of wisdom, practice, and heart. It honours the deep knowing that true community building is as much about connection and care as it is about method and action. Through stories of lived experience and grounded reflection, this book invites us to pause, listen, and remember what really matters; our shared humanity and the strength that comes from working together. As someone who has walked alongside communities and facilitators around the world, I''m inspired by how this collection embodies the spirit of possibility and reminds us that when we build with, not for, we create lasting change. Used as a daily reflection tool throughout the year, it gently guides readers into deeper thought, meaningful action, and an ever-growing sense of what''s possible when we nurture community from the heart and yes, the cookies and the hummus will help.

''Dee Brooks, Jeder Institute, Australia; ABCD Institute, Chicago; and participatory community building practitioner''In an age where so many aspects of community are under threat, this workbook provides an inspiring and comprehensive guide to nurturing community life. Full of insights, brimming with ideas, and cognizant of the importance of collaborative relationships in dealing with the realities facing communities today, it accompanies practitioners on their journeys through the many mazes that constitute community building.''Emeritus Professor Sue Kenny, Deakin University, Melbourne''Wow.what an amazing resource you have collectively compiled and gifted to us! As I wandered through the 51 provocations, learning, reflecting, being challenged, but above all being personally inspired to deepen my community engagement and relationships, it activated my memory of those wonderful words of Antoine de Saint-Exupery: ''If you want to build a ship, don''t drum up the people to gather wood, divide the work and give orders. Instead, teach them to yearn for the vast and endless sea''. Thank you for giving me that yearning and new insights in my daily journey of community building.''Peter Kenyon, Director, Bank of I.D.

E.A.S. (Initiatives for the Development of Enterprising Action & Strategies).