Empowering Rural Communities in Uruguay

Currently, Uruguayan communities with less than five thousand inhabitants are affected by the lack of development. It is causing high levels of poverty in the country and the migration of young people to larger cities or other countries in search of better possibilities. Despite all the efforts from the last Uruguayan governments to counteract this situation, the rural communities and their members have not managed to develop and have been stagnant for several decades. Identifying and understanding their own community challenges is essential for the members of the communities find ways to change. This change can be possible to achieve by empowering rural communities. In other words, engaging, motivating and enhancing their self-confidence. Participatory methods and co-creating with the community members is essential for successful empowerment and development projects and focusing on helping them find solutions for improving their living conditions in a sustainable manner. With this purpose, this research project aims to identify the challenges that rural communities face for development; and find pathways to empower community members to achieve their dreams and goals in order to improve their lives. Communities´ leaders are playing a key role in empowering communities and the ways how they can foster their communities´ development. Therefore, the research question of the present master thesis investigates: How can local leaders empower and develop their communities? For further investigation, the thesis writers recommend for research the empowerment of women and its impact in the Uruguayan society. As important as empowering of women, for further work is suggested to study how changing the mindset of people can positively affect their lives and their situation; how trained leaders can influence positively in the development of members and the community; opportunities generation for rural youth; detention and development of personal and collective skills in rural communities; and innovation and business idea generation in rural areas