Training for Professionals
working in Citizen Space

A new ABCD training course by Nurture Development in partnership with COCEDER 

IN-Person Training, with Cormac Russell

Discover Asset-Based Community Development

We are pleased to announce our partnership with COCEDER to deliver a training course in Asset-Based Community Development (ABCD) commencing in September 2025. This training will be delivered in English with a Spanish translator who is very experienced in ABCD and all course materials are in Spanish.

What is ABCD?
ABCD is an approach founded on the work of Professors Kretzmann and McKnight that contrasts with traditional 'deficit-focused methods'. ABCD highlights the significance of local assets and community strengths in achieving sustainable community growth and enabling residents to shape their own lives. The approach encourages citizens and associations to be the primary drivers of local change, shifting the conversation from what communities lack to what they do best, what assistance they need, and what external agencies can provide. Ultimately, ABCD aims to build stronger, more inclusive communities from within, recognising the unique competencies of residents. For more information on ABCD, click here.

Who is this Course for?
This course is designed practitioners who work in citizen space, including people working in inclusion, health, community safety, urban design and planning and community development. Participants should be looking to apply the key concepts and principles of Asset-Based Community Development (ABCD) to their specific institutional context and their professional roles. The goal is for them to work in a more community-centred way.


We at Nurture Development are grateful to COCEDER for their friendship and partnership in bringing this training to Spain, and for their sponsorship of this training event on September 25-26, which has enabled us to keep the costs to participants affordable.

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The Learning Experience

Course Features

A Course for Professionals working in Citizen Space,
delivered by Cormac Russell and Daniel Mellor Vela.

Two Days In Person Training

Learn community animation skills, asset-mapping techniques, neighbourhood inclusion approaches through action learning.

E-Learning Course with videos and eBooks

8 Modules including ebooks, videos, self-assessment. Details on all modules below.

Follow up Online Faciliated Sessions

Two facilitated online sessions to discuss how you have been applying your learning in your professional context.
Powerful studying

Beautiful course player

Lots of learning activities

We offer you a banch of learning activities. Video, ebooks, quizzes, certificates, exams and a lot more. An awesome interactive learning experience!

Flexible pathways

You can navigate freely or sequentially. Courses can also be delivered with drip feed.

Reading with note taking

Multiple ways of adding notes and highlights. We help you improve your scanning and reading strategies.
Lots of questionnaires

A sophisticated testing engine

Assignments for every need

Improve your confidence with self-improvement quizzes, formal tests, file assignments, and certificates to prove newly acquired skills.

Question banks

We have huge pools of questions connected to multiple courses and tests. All you need for secure, randomized tests for continuing education (CE) and certification programs.

Branded digital certificates

Take awards of our own digital certificates! Showcase their competencies at the end of your learning adventure.

Training Dates

Thursday 25th September & Friday 26th September 2025

Day 1: Thursday 25 September 2025
14.30h - 15.00h Registration
15.00h - 21.00h Training [coffee break at 17.00h]
21.00h Dinner *
* Dinner is included but limited to the first 80 registrations due to limited restaurant capacity.
Please email formacion@coceder.org to confirm attendance at dinner stating any food intolerances/allergies. 

Day 2: Friday 26 September 2025
09.00h - 14.00h Training [coffee break at 11.00h]

Venue

Círculo de recreo de Valladolid,
Duque de la Victoria 6,
47001 Valladolid

We will host you in one of the most emblematic buildings of Valladolid. The Círculo de Recreo is the best example in the city of the leisure of the local bourgeoisie of the nineteenth century, active today as a social club, restaurant, cafeteria and meeting point around culture.

For advice on travel or accommodation, please contact formacion@coceder.org

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The Facilitators

Cormac Russell

Cormac is a social explorer, an author and a much sought-after speaker. He is the Founding Director of Nurture Development and a member of the Asset-Based Community Development (ABCD) Institute, at DePaul University, Chicago.

Over the last 25 years, Cormac’s work has demonstrated an enduring impact in 35 countries around the world. He has trained communities, agencies, NGOs and governments in ABCD and other community-based approaches in Africa, Asia, Australia/Oceania, Europe and North America.

His most recent books are The Connected Community- Discovering the Health, Wealth, and Power of Neighborhoods (Coauthor John McKnight); Berrett-Koehler Publishers, 2022, and Rekindling Democracy – A Professional’s Guide to Working in Citizen Space; Cascade Books, 2020.

Daniel Millor Vela

Coordinador en el Programa Asertos, miembro de Quatorze y Arquitectura Sin Fronteras, socio fundador de la cooperativa Quidam y doctorando en Salud Pública por la Universidad de Alicante. Daniel se dedica a la arquitectura comunitaria, explorando cómo la población que reside en barrios vulnerados puede promover su bienestar por medio de la reconstrucción de sus comunidades y de sus entornos de vida.

A little more information about us

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We have worked as ABCD social explorers, trainers, mentors, facilitators, researchers and consultants with change partners and disruptive innovators around the world. These include Communities, Charities, NGOs/NPOs, Faith-based organisations, Think Tanks; local and national Governments in over 30 countries.

Our ambition is to support the proliferation of inclusive, bottom up, community driven change.

We aim to achieve this by supporting local communities and supportive mediating/civic organisations to create the conditions where any neighbourhood can identify, connect and mobilise its assets to the benefit of the whole community.

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COCEDER es una confederación de 24 centros de desarrollo rural repartidos por 24 comarcas rurales por toda España.
La ONG trabaja con la comunidad rural en procesos de desarrollo integral y sostenible, en coordinación con otros agentes sociales del territorio para generar mejores condiciones de vida para la población rural y su entorno.

COCEDER es una organización reconocida en España por su trabajo con la población de las zonas rurales, fomentando que la población local se implique en su propio ecosistema y emprenda acciones desde una perspectiva holística e integral . Reivindica “lo comunitario” y "lo común" como eje vertebrador de una buena vida comunitaria, donde afloren el apoyo mutuo y la solidaridad como valores necesarios para garantizar la accesibilidad para todos, la sostenibilidad y la equidad.

Course contents