ECON Past, present and future

The European Community Organizing Network (ECON) formed as an informal group in January 2008 from a growing interest in community organizing in Europe and a growing network of relationships between people and organizations primarily in Central and Eastern Europe seeking practical and effective social change strategies. ECON focused initially on promoting community organizing, conducting organizing training and consulting visits across European countries, and leading or participating in the publication of various organizing resources. (read more in our resources page).

In 2016 ECON was registered as a formal organization and shifted its focus from ‘promoting’ organizing to ‘supporting’ organizing on the ground. In 2019, ECON elected new board members and started to define ECON’s focus on three core areas of support that ECON will provide to the community organizing movement: 1) connecting organizers to the training and mentorship they need to learn their craft, 2) driving alignment between organizing initiatives in different countries and regions, and 3) helping to raise money by seeking to grow the resources available to the community organizing sector.

Over the years, based on the experience and feedback from the network, ECON has been refining its focus and strategic priorities. In 2021, the strategic priorities were revised to be (1) Building people power – by developing the organizing capacity of members and partners through training, coaching and research, (2) Coordinating solidarity – by convening organizers and enabling learning exchange and coordination among organizing initiatives and campaigns across countries, (3) Supporting sustainability of the organizing field in Europe – by connecting donors and organizers, seeking and sharing funding opportunities.  

In 2024, two strategic priorities were added to better reflect the role ECON is playing in Europe’s movement ecosystem: (1) Network Building – by Strengthen relationships, engagement, and communication among members and with partners, and  (2) Movement infrastructure – by strengthening the network infrastructure and capacity to support the organizing movement and its actors.

In the past years ECON has developed from promoting organizing in its early days in Europe, to supporting the work of our ECON member organizations in the local and national campaigns for many years, to coordinating a locally rooted and internationally coordinated campaign for ar Just Transition with our members in Poland, Czechia and Slovakia.

As the interest and practice of community organizing has become increasingly wide-spread in Europe, ECON’s role of supporting organizations and groups in developing and strengthening their capacity and network to organize contributed to make ECON an influential player in the ecology of movements for social and climate justice in Europe. With about 30 members in 14 countries, ECON has strengthened its role as a hub for the European organizing movement where member organizations meet, learn from each other’s struggle and build collective power and scale. A pioneer on organizing training  through the curricula and learning resources we developed, and a broker in facilitating dialogue between donors and organizers. 

The interest–and the need–for community organizing continues to grow in Europe. We imagine a future where there is a robust ecosystem of community organizing projects led by grassroots leaders in communities across Europe. We envision a future where organizers have the training and living wages they need to grow, thrive and drive systemic change. And we are laying the groundwork for a network of organizations with the capacity to link local issues to the big picture challenges of the day.