This conference aimed to create global interconnectedness among individuals seeking solutions to local challenges. It promoted a resilience-based approach, as opposed to one focused solely on addressing deficits. Rather than asking, “What problems do we have?”, the conference encouraged participants to ask, “What strengths have enabled us to remain resilient in the face of challenges?”

Unprecedented global transformations occurred during the last two decades of the 20th century, and some societies were still grappling with their aftermath. People called for peace and sustainability, and sought solutions that promote self-reliance. There was a genuine global hunger for leadership and collective wisdom capable of re-engaging individuals, groups, and communities in meaningful ways.

The search was underway for strengths-based practices at local, national, and global levels—strategies and actions that produced tangible, lasting outcomes.

Conference presentations took various formats, including strengths-based narratives, discussions of methodology and theory, and examinations of research and outcomes. Practical papers were expected to address the following:

• What were the goals of the practice?

• What strategies were used?

• How were the target individuals, groups, or communities empowered as a result of this practice?

• What lasting outcomes resulted from the practice?