Empowered Community

“The classic kind of empowered community is one that is confident, resilient, energetic and independent. It is well networked. It has a high degree of social capital. It is confident enough to imagine a better future for itself, and is in a position to take control of that future. It has the breadth of vision to be able to enlist others and other agencies in helping it to deliver its ambitions. By contrast, a disempowered community is one which is dependent on people external to itself to address its needs and whose future is directed by others.”

Alison Elliot, from a paper written for The Royal Society of Edinburgh, Community Empowerment and Capacity Building (Aug 2014)

Source: Local-People-Leading