Participation and empowerment refer to community members having perceived and actual voice and choice in issues and decisions that affect their lives. In an empowering program, community members share decision-making power and control over resources with professionals. Empowerment programs aim to increase the power of individuals, groups, and entire communities.

Participation and empowerment in the workplace refer to members having as much voice as possible in the way an organization is run and control over various aspects of their job. Organizational members share information, responsibility, and decision-making power with each other. Workers at all levels of the organization are able to fully participate in organizational dialogue and decisions, and resources are allocated to make this possible.

Resources Related to Empowerment

On-Site Papers

Youth Empowerment Resources

Links

The Community Empowerment Collective Society

The Community Empowerment Collective is a not-for-profit association located world wide which works on the Internet to produce, translate, and make available free training material for strengthening communities. Community Empowerment methodology starts with the idea that capacity can not be built (social engineering), but the community can be stimulated to develop itself. The training emphasises "How-to" rather than theory and research about the empowerment methodology. It aims to write at a level of language for middle school leavers, and provides an extensive set of key words to cover the vocabulary they might not yet know.

Development means getting larger and more complex. Empowerment means becoming stronger. While the two are different by definition, they are intricately interlinked. When we give everything to a community, and do everything for it, it becomes, metaphorically speaking, a cultural couch potato. The methodology is based on eight principles, six cultural or social dimensions, and sixteen elements of strength.