Asset Mapping

Natural assets are what we have in our natural environment: water, wood, minerals, wildlife, fertile soil, etc.

Built assets are physical structures like buildings and public infrastructure (recreational facilities, water and sewage treatment, etc.)

Social assets are the values and culture of the community, including traditions and attitudes of sharing, cooperation, and mutual support.

Economic assets are the jobs and businesses which provide livelihoods.

Public (service) assets include medical and educational services – hospitals, schools, municipal services and others provided by governments.

Intangible assets are usually undiscovered or under-utilized skills, expertise and willingness to volunteer and participate in working towards common goals.

1. Establish a group of people from the community who are willing to facilitate and commit to the Asset Mapping session
2. Secure a date and venue for the session to take place
3. Create a list of community organizations to include at the session 
4. Promote the session across various public platforms (i.e. social media, newspapers, posters, etc.)
5. Be as proactive as possible with planning the logistics (i.e. consider number of participants, room size, chairs and tables needed, division of participants into groups, notetakers per group, flip charts/paper, etc.)

1. Begin the session with a round of introductions (have people share their name, community and/or organization affiliations).
2. Review the session agenda, provide context and definitions of asset mapping, assets, and why the community has gathered – let any community members who had key roles in coordinating the session speak briefly about their hopes for the process.
3. As participants are seated at their group tables, ask participants to write a list of which community assets are most important to them. 
4. Once asset lists are compiled, ask participants to share their assets with the group while identifying recurring ones – consider grouping assets that are related to one another into categories. Allow for discussions, but keep the process moving. 
5. Go around the table and ask each participant to identify which assets are most important to them, which ones they want to sustain and build upon. Then underline the three most popular assets chosen by the group. 
6. Next, ask participants to identify the threats and challenges facing the chosen assets during a roundtable discussion. Then, ask the group to identify the top 3 threats which affect the top 3 assets – write them down, allow the group to express their doubts and concerns, but remain focused on the task.
7. Next, in a roundtable setting, have participants write down their ideas on what would be needed to support the priority assets and keep them strong against identified threats. Encourage more discussion to brainstorm solutions in response to the threats. 
8. Next, ask participants to identify projects which would incorporate a number of supports to threats that can be undertaken as a starting point. Then, have participants determine how everyone can work together, what the best ways to “connect” communities are, and what has worked for them in the past. 
9. Wrapping Up – Ask each group to share their findings with the whole group. Plan to set up a date for a follow-up session and to determine its goals. Ask participants to fill out both a contact sheet and evaluation form.

1. Book a follow-up meeting where the focus should be on choosing and planning one or two projects, allowing for further brainstorming and moving to an action plan which outlines specific tasks. Start by revisiting the recommendations and outcomes from the asset mapping workshop.
2. Once the group has agreed on a project to undertake, ask them to fill in the Planning Grid (Appendix 2) to allow project brainstorming to begin.