Everyone has important pieces to the puzzle for the survival and development of the region where they live. When people choose teamwork on equal terms and contribute through social capital, things really start to happen. In a small village in Swedish Lapland there are several examples of what is possible when people take personal leadership.
All people have enormous capacity and are equally important. When people choose to discard judgment and feelings of being more or less than others, teamwork on equal terms is possible. This makes rural community commitment easy. The key is for each individual to take personal responsibility and leadership. We are all born to be a potential leader in our own lives, regardless of background, race or education.
Teamwork for the bigger picture with the village’s best interest at heart without personal agendas has made a small village – Vuollerim in Lapland with 800 inhabitants – to: start and run five village owned companies, run 50 non-profit organizations, produce a music video together, start a hotel with 140 active shareholders as well as an incoming business; start Lapland Vuollerim Welcomes You, that has created jobs and increased tourism, keep the ski slope going through voluntary workers and many more things. When everybody is seen as a resource, anything is possible.
”Never doubt that a small group of thoughtful, committed citizens can change the world. Indeed, it is the only thing that ever has.” /Margaret Mead
– By Eva-Lena Skalstad
