DEMOCRACY – as the saying goes – is not a spectator sport. A disengaged and disempowered citizenry does not serve society well.
If we take our right to participate in the social economic and political life of our communities seriously, then we should take the exercise of that right seriously, too.
On behalf of Edinburgh’s Third Sector EVOC has submitted a response to the Scottish Government’s consultation on a proposed Community Empowerment & Renewal Bill.
Thanks are due to all of you who shared your thinking with us: responding to our ThinkSpace online survey, attending our ThinkSpace event, and generally being generous with your experiences and your views.
Thanks particularly to our partners who supported the ThinkSpace process – both the Edinburgh Partnership and the city’s Neighbourhood Partnerships.
As this consultation set out to gather views on the broad principles which will inform the thrust of any legislation, we are some way away from new legislation to empower and renew our communities.
We at EVOC are committed to participating in any way we can. We owe it to the city’s Third Sector, and to the communities we serve.
Recognising that change does not come from legislation alone, we are keen to use all means available to promote an ethos of empowerment, to ensure that engaging with each other – across themes, geographies, and sectors – is seen as perfectly normal rather than as the preserve of policy wonks or ‘the usual suspects.’
The path may not be smooth, and we should anticipate hurdles that we will have to overcome – but we’re not embarked on this journey because it’s easy. We’re committed to working together to build and enable empowered communities because that makes our society better for us all.
[Readers who are on Twitter might like to follow the Scottish Government’s Bill Team – @CommEmpower – to remain engaged with this work.]
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