Tuesday, April 30, 2019

The Skinny On Collective Empowerment

By Timothy Jackson


In order for a community to thrive, it is important that the individuals are empowered not just on a personal level but also on a collective level. This is known as collective empowerment or community empowerment and is extremely important in the development of a certain district. Just to give one an idea, here are a few points and few concepts that one should take note of.

The first thing that would come to mind when one mentions this term would be community building projects or donations to a particular district, especially one that as a high rate of poverty. That happens to just be one aspect of empowering communities, though an important one. Probably the most important goal of a district is to ensure itself that it is independent and can sustain itself.

One of the most important ways to empower people is to make them feel confident. One will become more confident in his or her abilities if he or she gains more knowledge and skills in a certain area of expertise that allows him or her to profit. In a way, teaching more skills and providing more knowledge will make communities more independent as they can fend for their own local economy.

Aside from just imparting of skills and knowledge, another dimension of empowering communities would be through programs that promote inclusion or equality. In a community, there would usually be sub groups made out of people of different ideologies, beliefs, ethnic groups etc. Part of empowering the community is bringing these groups together and promoting ways to give all of them equal rights and free speech.

When all the sub groups of people are united, it is then that the district leaders can suggest or bring up cooperative programs for the community. This could be in the form of infrastructure development programs, feeding programs for the more impoverished areas, or even education programs for the young. Again, this is only possible if the people work as a collective instead of as an individual.

In order for all these aspects to succeed though, there is a concept that is known as sense of community that must be observed. If the individuals inside do not have a sense of community, then they will not feel the need to give back to the development of their district. The important thing here is to build a sense of belonging for all the individuals so that they will feel included.

In order to do that, there must be a certain culture that is observed. The building of a culture inside a community is one of the most important steps to making the people feel like they belong in a group. Of course, this culture must be cultivated by the leaders and influencers inside.

Community empowerment is actually a broad scale of activities that ultimately lead to overall development. It starts with the individuals then stems out to the sub groups. From there, the success of development lies in the unity of everyone inside the entire group of people.




About the Author:



No comments:

Post a Comment