Power Up! How to get it. How communities can use it.

Conference opened 31 May 2010, MelbourneYou need to change the world, or your bit of the world, because it's just not working right the way it is. That's why community groups exist.

The world isn't going to change itself. You're going to need the tools and the commitment and the leverage to force it open.

And the power.

The world is going to resist being changed. That's just the way things are. If you want things to move, you're going to need to push. Or pull.

You can't be given power (if it has to be given to you it kind of defeats the point). You have to take it. Community groups of every size and scope at every level need to learn how to seek power, and grasp it, and wield it to bring about their goals. You need to understand how the machinations work, so you can ensure your members, stakeholders, clients - anyone who has been excluded, or could be excluded - can get their fair share too.

At Communities in Control 2010 we looked at issues of power - who has it; who needs it; how to get it; and how to use it to create change for equality, inclusion and justice.