In rural areas, communities demonstrate potential for fostering self-determination while addressing trade-offs between their needs for water, energy and food. The water-energy-food (WEF) nexus offers an integrated approach to managing such growing demands. The concept of “WEF communities” is a bottom-up approach to integrate local decision-making into national frameworks.

Community champions can play a valuable role in citizen science and participatory research. They can also help make research more socially relevant in rural communities, as well as translate and disseminate information to ensure the uptake of knowledge into action on the ground.

This factsheet provides guidelines for engaging community champions in a rural context. The 4-pager draws on findings from the “Ecochamps” who work in the grasslands of the Eastern Cape.

Created by a consortium of partners, this Enabling community champions factsheet is part of a series, together with a factsheet on Creating knowledge festivals and a policy brief titled, Lessons from WEF governance: Inclusive living landscapes with thriving communities.