The purpose of the ‘Champions’ workshop was to enable people to ‘think outside the box’ - to
listen to each other’s perspectives and learn from international experiences of participation
– and to kickstart dialogue that would inform and inspire future strategies for empowerment
across the region.

Participants spent 2 days listening to each others’ perspectives, analysing their different
experiences and developing a range of new ideas about what might be done locally, regionally
and nationally to embed participation and empowerment in local governance arrangements.