Learning Networks
The Village is a gathering place for those who want to undertake large-scale, cross-cultural organizing, gain site control of enough land to make a difference, and design creative financing partnerships. It is a place for public policymakers to examine the tools, rules, and regulations that either facilitate or stand in the way of change. Hundreds visit each year to learn from Market Creek’s strategies, structures, principles, and practices around:
- Resident-led community revitalization
- Defining scale at the neighborhood level
- Land acquisition
- Understanding sustainability
- Managing comprehensive community change
- Structuring corporate networks for effective community development
- Preventing gentrification through resident control of land and recapturing the value of land and commerce
As an example, the San Diego Neighborhood Funders collaborative leveraged its investment in The Village to support a formal Learning Agenda. The participating 18 foundations, banks, and individuals work alongside residents to address challenges and develop solutions for community change. By working and learning together, funders are more informed and impactful in their grantmaking. They help create real and sustainable change that aligns with their mission.
In 2008, more than 2,000 people from 20 states and three countries engaged in Learning Exchanges in The Village. About 190 residents from The Village’s Working Teams participated as trainers, presenters, and discussion group leaders — expanding skills and self-confidence, attracting new ideas, encouraging further risk taking, and advancing the on-going ownership of change.
Click here to visit San Diego Neighborhood Funders website.
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