Chawanad and his Openspace collective of community architects have developed a holistic model for long-term rural and urban community revitalization that is driven by the villagers rather than government institutions. Chawanad believes that to solve the problems of poor communities in the long-term, villagers must be empowered to participate in their community revitalization strategies and to take the lead in their formulation. An architect by training, Chawanad begins by mobilizing communities to collectively address housing needs, but leverages this approach to encourage greater community activism.