Community empowerment is about the role communities play in the local parks and greenspaces - making sure their voices are heard in the planning and delivery of park services. The Rethinking Parks programme is supporting grassroots replication of community ownership, stewardship and co-management models.

• Community ownership is where a park is owned and managed by a community.
• Community stewardship allows the local authority to retain ownership of the park but the volunteers and Friends of groups are responsible for managing the park.
• Community co-management is where the local council and volunteers and Friends groups work together in equal partnership to protect parks and greenspaces although the council retains ownership and liability for the land.

Parks and greenspaces are at their core spaces for the community. It is clear that no matter what the future of the parks sector is, empowering local communities in parks and greenspaces is vital to ensuring the sustainability of these spaces.

Whilst all of our projects incorporate an element of community empowerment those that showcase it most are:

• Par Track Ltd
• Friends of Lordship Rec
• Friends of Hardie Park

In the previous round of Rethinking Parks we supported Liverpool City Council to put in place a long term plan for community management of the park. The transfer of the park from the local authority to the Land Trust aimed to give the community a say in how the space is managed and maintained.