From informal network to building an organization

The European Community Organizing Network (ECON) formed at a meeting in January, 2008 in Český Těšín, Czech Republic. Its founding followed two international community organizing trainings held at the Le Pont Meeting Center of Protestant Churches in Paris, France. The founding of ECON represented the growing interest in community organizing in Europe and the growing network of relationships between people and organizations in Europe seeking practical and effective social change strategies.

In its early days, ECON focussed on promoting community organizing. We conducted numerous local trainings and consulting visits in over a dozen European countries. We organized site visits allowing community organizing staff and volunteers to share experiences and best practices. Starting in 2009, ECON worked in partnership with the Great Lakes Consortium in the United States to allow an exchange between organizers in America and Europe. In that time ECON also led or participated in the publication of a number of studies on the organizing sector in Europe.

“Our ambition has grown”

In October of 2016, ECON registered as a formal organization. At a subsequent ECON membership assembly one of our leaders put it best: “when ECON was born we focussed on promoting the idea of organizing. Now our goal is to support organizing on the ground.”

Indeed, community organizing is increasingly wide-spread practice in Europe. Numerous organizations across the continent have built sophisticated community organizing programs, and every day more organizations have begun looking at how to implement the practice of community organizing into their work. These organizations need the support to grow the scale and impact of their efforts. This is the niche that ECON fills.

In 2019, ECON elected new board members, and at a subsequent board retreat we affirmed our 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 pie” of resources available to the community organizing sector.

Looking forward

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 in Europe. These will be lead by anchor organizations in numerous countries and sprouting grassroots leaders and initiatives in communities big and small. We envision a future where organizers have the training and living wages they need to grow and thrive in their craft. And we are laying the ground work for a network of organizations with the capacity to link local issues to the big picture challenges of the day.