Sustainability Governance There has been a growing emphasis on empowerment of people, a concept that has been widely promoted by NGOs. The concept of participation as empowerment is seen basically as access to and control over resources, or as a way of releasing human energies and enlarging talents and potential. Stakeholder participatory approaches can be traced to a number of antecedents and has been linked to democratisation, good governance, equality, and human rights. Stakeholder participation can be defined as a process whereby stakeholders (those with rights, and therefore responsibilities, and/or interests) play an active role in decision making and in the consequent activities which affect them. Sustainability governance aim to provide people with an opportunity to investigate and analyse their own situation, evaluate capabilities and constraints and play a greater role in determining and enacting responses and solutions to their own problems. Sustainability decisions made by individuals, civil society and the governments involve questions of economic efficiency, environmental sustainability, equity and political legitimacy. These four criteria are constitutive of economic, social, institutional and environmental dimensions of sustainable development. Consulting your stakeholders is a great way to get an "outside the box" view of your operations, and can boost your credentials as a socially responsible organisation. As a third-party facilitator, OAKLIX Consulting can help our clients build trust among employees, suppliers, customers, and community members. Together, we can determine where your organisation shines, and where it needs a little polishing.