Once existing resources are defined, these reference points can be used to create a visual map of community resources. The next step is to examine the relationships between each of these existing resources.

This step measures dependencies, exchanges and conditions that form the "connective tissue" between community resources. For example, climate trends impact water availability which determines agricultural cycles that support local economic activities.

While defining existing resources creates a "static" model of the community, this process of connecting the dots creates a more "dynamic" model of how a community actually functions as a living, evolving organism whose resources are constantly interacting with each other.

The value of this approach is that it shows us the mechanisms of change that are actively at work in each community every single day. It unlocks the hidden process of how change grows naturally from existing forces within each community.

These comprehensive insights remind us that change must be grown from within each community, and the introduction of new resources must follow the rhythms and patterns that already exist in the dynamic relationships between existing resources.