Agency

The recognition that everyone possesses the strengths and abilities to be agents of change that are equipped to realise their potential.

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Arts-Based Community Development (ACD)

A strategic approach where arts-led practices facilitate a shared space for personal growth and collective action. It recognises the distinct strengths, needs, and cultural contexts within a community, allowing members and partners to jointly shape these processes by imagining and working toward their self-determined goals for collective wellbeing.

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Asset-Based Community Development (ABCD)

A strengths-based approach that works with community members to identify and build on existing and potential assets. Applying these strengths enables communities to pursue communal needs, desired improvements, and goals.

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Arts-Based Facilitation

The practice of guiding participants through creative activities with the deliberate aim of supporting well-being, enabling self-expression, and fostering social connection. These activities draw from art practices such as visual arts, applied drama, music performance, artistic movement, and literary arts. In community or group settings, the facilitator attends to process as much as, if not more than, the artistic outcome.

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Artist-Facilitator

An arts practitioner who designs and leads participatory arts activities in community or group contexts, integrating artistic skill with facilitation expertise. Unlike an arts therapist, who works within specific clinical conditions towards therapeutic outcomes, the artist-facilitator works within a wider range of settings (e.g. health, education, and community spaces) to create environments where participants relate to one another and exchange perspectives for a variety of outcomes (well-being, learning, community engagement).

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Civic Participation

The active engagement of individuals and groups in influencing decisions and contributing to efforts that affect their communities. This involves creating opportunities for community members to be heard and to shape their collective future.

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Collaboration

The practice of harnessing strengths and sharing resources through processes that foster mutual respect, shared decision-making, and open communication. It brings together parties who recognise their individual limitations and work together to achieve outcomes greater than the sum of their parts.

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Community Arts

Artistic practices situated in or about specific communities, which prize dialogue, reflection, and expression when journeying with community participants and partners. Distinct from art therapy, which seeks therapeutic outcomes under specific clinical conditions.

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Community Development

A long-term process where the community takes charge of its own growth and change. It requires active participation and collaboration towards shared objectives over time, with the ultimate goal of communities developing solidarity and agency — embracing their capacity to shape their own futures.

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Community Engagement

The process of inviting people to participate in and contribute to creative activities and dialogue alongside artists. These interactions foster personal growth, clarity, and confidence in community members, often generating artworks that are then shared with the wider community to elicit further responses.

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Community-Engaged Arts

Artistic practices where artists engage specific communities, drawing from lived experiences and local knowledge to work together, build relationships, and foster dialogue. Equal value is attributed to the participatory process and the resulting work in strengthening community bonds, developing shared voice, and contributing to collective wellbeing.

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Intermediary

In the context of this field, an intermediary bridges the public, private, and people sectors to create and sustain an environment for partnerships. This could take the form of convening cross-sectoral events, pooling resources, and translating different vocabularies.

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Socially Engaged Art

Artistic practices that look at and provoke thought on social issues, structures, and systems. Compared to community-engaged arts, the focus here is on reframing perspectives instead of community-building.

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