Endorsements

Endorsements for The Connected Community, by Cormac Russell and John McKnight

"Here, is a book of empowering wisdom that provides a compelling alternative to the disempowering foolishness of dominant culture. This book is “revelatory” in that it reveals, right before our eyes, available resources for community wellbeing that have been kept hidden behind a facade of technology and the busyness of market ideology."
— Walter Brueggemann, Columbia Theological Seminary

"As a form of modern wilderness, no one on earth understands the neighborhood better than Cormac Russell and John McKnight. The book they put together is essential reading for anybody that longs for an alternative to the devastation of a consumer, and free market consumer culture."
— Peter Block, Cincinnati, Ohio

"In a world where people increasingly feel defeated by large forces beyond their control, Russell and McKnight illustrate how local communities are empowering ordinary people for the common good. This eminently practical book draws on resources that are already in our neighborhoods to show the importance of face-to-face encounters for promoting a livable world."
— William T. Cavanaugh, Director of the Centre for World Catholicism and Intercultural Theology, DePaul University, Chicago

"In these fractured times, this practical deep dive with tools for creating, sustaining local relationships and alive active communities is a hopeful, helpful book. Loved the stories, the poems, the inclusion of power and organizing aspects. A must have."
— Mary Nelson, Founding President of Bethel New Life, former Executive Director of the Council for a Parliament of the World’s Religious

"In “The Connected Community“ the reader will glean practical ways for engaging neighbors to be connected with each other through stories and practical guidelines as well as understanding potential barriers. This user friendly book emanates from the writer’s enormous, incredible experience in diverse communities."
— Jacqueline Reed, Westside Health Authority, Chicago

"The implications of this joyful and subversive book are staggering. Brimming with stories and insights cultivated from a lifetime of learning and connecting, if you need practical hope read this book right now."
— Tim Soerens, Executive Director of the Parish Collective author of “Everywhere You Look: Discovering the Church, Right Where You Are”.

“Place matters. In The Connected Neighborhood, the authors unlock the power of people at the most detailed level of social organization - the neighborhood. The book brings together a wide range of international examples, principles and practices that reflect the very essence of what it means to live locally, including the most valued, yet often invisible assets held by those creating place.”
— Michael Fox, PhD., Professor of Community Engaged Learning, Mount Allison University Sackville, New Brunswick, Canada

"This is a most important book for our time and a must read for anyone interested in community change. John and Cormac are two of the most thoughtful and well respected authors and teachers of Asset Based Community development in the world today. This book is accessible to professionals and neighbours alike and is filled with practical and mind shifting ideas to improve your community. If you read only one book this year make it this one."
— Paul Born, Authour and Co - CEO, Tamarack Institute, Director, Vibrant Communities

“Maybe Maslow needed to put a higher value on community? “The connected community” makes a strong case for community being an essential human need, alongside water, food and shelter.”
— Judah Armani, Head of Social Impact Challenge Lab Royal College of Art, London

“This is a book about power: not someone else’s, far away, that you can’t alter; but yours, here, now, provided you are prepared to discover the dynamism that lies in your neighbourhood. Read this book: you will be humbled, moved, inspired and empowered – by the power of “the connected community”. And when you finish it you will say, quietly, confidently: ‘We can do this.’”
— Samuel Wells, Vicar, St Martin-in-the-Fields, London, UK.

“An incredible book that takes you to the best kept secrets within the heart of our communities, enabling you to feel the power of and within community. A must read for those who seek to find more of the solutions and possibilities from the same people and places where they can currently only see the greatest challenges.”
— Majid Hussain, Chairman Clinical Commissioning Group, Oldham. Cohort Director, University of Manchester, Alliance Manchester Business School.

“For people working in community engagement: this is an essential handbook that will support you to better understand the nature of people and communities you are seeking to engage. Walk alongside people in their neighbourhoods with humility and openness; listen deeply to what they want to do and understand when to ‘step up’ but more importantly when to ‘step back’.”
— Olivia Butterworth, National Head of Community Engagement, NHS England.

"McKnight and Russell’s book ‘The Connected Community’ is a must for anyone wanting to understand what lies behind the notion of social capital. More than this, it is essentially a primer for those wishing to put these ideas into practice at a neighbourhood level.
— David Somekh, Network Director, European Health Futures Forum"

“Cormac and John’s new book, “The Connected Community” is not only a distillation of their decades of wisdom and a practical ‘how to’ guide: it is also a joyful call to the kind of neighbourhood adventures that will, if we let them, transform the world in ways we so urgently need.”
— Revd Dr Al Barrett, Rector of Hodge Hill Church, Birmingham, UK, and co-author of Being Interrupted: Re-imagining the Church’s Mission from the Outside, In

"Now more than ever, as humans ‘being’ we need to restore the power and vitality of our communities. If we flourish as communities, we will flourish as individuals and in this book the authors gift each and all of us with the ways to help our own communities flourish."
— Prof Áine Carroll, Prof of Healthcare Integration and Improvement UCD/NRH, Co-Director IFIC Ireland

"The words ‘connected community’ sound appealing - but how do you get there in practice? Your journey, in this super-friendly book, starts local - on your own door step, or the corner of your street. And there’s no rush: It takes time to explore beneath the surface of everyday life. This wonderful book leads you at a steady pace as you learn how to discover, how to meet, and how to connect."
— John Thackara, author of “How to Thrive in the Next Economy”

“In their new book, Cormac Russell and John McKnight take us on a voyage of discovery of the world outside our front door, that can help transform the wider world. The value of close communities for global wellbeing has never been greater - and this book guides us to better understand the wonderland in our communities.”
— Lars Münter, Director Danish Council for Better Hygiene, Head of International Projects Unit Danish Committee for Health Education

"The book “The Connected Community” is a ´game changer´ to envision socially sustainable and socially just ways of transforming welfare systems towards wellbeing for all as a common good. They give wise and promising insights into stewarding a flourishing future by addressing the democratic and empowering potentials of neighborhoods and the people who live there."
— Dina von Heimburg, Assistant Professor and Ottar Ness, Professor – co-leads of the research group ´Relational Welfare and Wellbeing´ at the Norwegian University of Science and Technology

"John and Cormac have posed insightful and critical questions and artfully argued for vibrant, bounded and caring neighbourhoods. In this book they have also provided all of us – as neighbours and professionals alike – a compass to better social, physical, emotional and mental health amid this pandemic and beyond."
— Chun-Yat Phua, Chief Operating Officer, Samaritans of Singapore

“This new book is a timely reminder that our real lives are deeply intertwined with the connections and bonds that lie closest to us - beyond just our families, this includes our neighbours, which we often overlook. This book is a must-read for those who dream of building synergistic and sustainable communities, right in their neighbourhoods.”
— Dr Vincent Ng, Chief Executive Officer, AMKFSC Community Services