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What is a Barefoot Guide?

Barefoot Guides bring stories, analyses, approaches and resources of interesting social change practices from around the globe, each under a key theme. They are written by collectives of practitioner writers and are published in an illustrated format that is simple and lively. They strive to break away from the dry, alienating and academic style of so many social change publications, unreadable to most practitioners.

​A typical Barefoot Guide is a practical, do-it yourself book or guide.  It has a supporting website, with resources, exercises, readings etc, including tried and tested concepts, approaches and activities. 
Key elements
  • A Barefoot Guides are based on real and diverse experiences in the field
  • We use accessible, natural language, avoiding "development speak" and jargon
  • Barefoot Guides are well-illustrated - we use images to illuminate the ideas in the book and also to provide a bridge into the text
  • We offer all of our Barefoot Guides for free to the world  to be downloaded on this website
  • We encourage others to write new Barefoot Guides.  If you (and your fellow practitioners) have a book that needs to be written and shared about social change in your field of practice, contact us

WHAT HAVE OTHERS SAID ABOUT THE bAREFOOT gUIDES...

The Barefoot Guides have been the key influences in my life and work… my constant companions in my community and organisational development work. 
Marie Corcoran-tindill, Trainer, Facilitator of community and group processes, Dublin 

The Barefoot initiative is itself an exciting expression of social change. 
Inez Hackenberg, Utrecht University 

As a trained action learning facilitator their guides have helped me work with grassroots communities in Myanmar and Thailand. 
Kevina Maddick, Program Manager at Right To Play, Bangkok 

The Barefoot Guide's transformative process… shows us the way to transcend borders, sectors, limits, to break the silos! 
Vincent Stevaux, ITECO, Bruxelles

Barefoot Guide has been creating phenomenal content for the critical process of experiential reflection at both individual and organizational levels. 
Jesse Chen, Changemakers, Washington 

…a wonderful contribution to open access knowledge, grounded on a great depth of experience and horizontal learning from across the world. 
Samantha Button, East Africa Program Head, Maliasili 

…the Barefoot Guide collection is having a great influence, especially the lives of field workers and communities. 
Muta Wakilu Tamasco, Ghana 

The Barefoot Guide Connection has a unique and truly transformational approach to collaboration, learning and facilitating social, transformational change across borders. 
Tobias Troll Director, EDGE Europe at EDGE Funders Alliance, Bruxelles 

This unusual and exceptional volume (and series) is hugely accessible yet deeply rooted in solid theory and extensive practice across a wide range of contexts and fields. Expect from it something truly unique in its combination of insight, reflection, experience and highly usable mixed text/visual presentation. It is not "dumbed down." I have seen it bite as deeply at high academic and professional level as at grassroots community leadership level, an astonishing achievement worth honouring. 
Professor Jim Cochrane Cape Town 

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