Europe is facing multiple crises of increasing inequality, rising racism and xenophobia, economic recession, and democratic deficit that are rooted in intersecting systems of oppressions of capitalism, racism, patriarchy, ableism, and more. These are at the roots of the different forms of social injustices affecting our societies (economic, racial, gender, etc). The climate crisis will magnify and exacerbate these injustices and put European societies at risk of instability, division, and democratic backsliding.
At this moment so many people are dissatisfied with how institutions work, and disappointed by traditional parties. Some fall into apathy and disengage from the democratic and civic life, others become prone to reactionary populist ideas, as we see in many countries. Those who are able to channel citizens’ dissatisfaction into action will be able to win and build power. Organizing can offer a counterbalance to reactionary populism by talking to people and channeling their dissatisfaction into struggles within the confines of democracy.
We believe organizing is a systemic and intersectional approach to respond to the current multiple crises. It builds the bottom-up people power behind the demands for change to the status quo and transform power relations. If pursued strategically over the long term, it can lead to wide scale systemic change towards a progressive agenda.
The organizing process emphasizes targeted outreach in, and long-term trust-building with, key constituencies, often located in already marginalized communities. Organizers listen to people’s problems and help people talk to each other, build strong constituencies which can have enough power – because of their numbers, the trust, and the relations to one another – to challenge injustices.
We work against fragmentation of societies because we build constituencies which recognize their overlapping interests and will not see each other as enemies but work together for common goals. Organizers seek to identify “organic leaders” in the community (those with a following) and to engage those people in a patient process of leadership development, as well as campaigns that seek to build bottom-up power and to transform material conditions for directly impacted communities. ECON’s role as a network focused on community organizing is to organize organizations into a progressive movement for social and environmental justice.
The outcomes of community organizing are changes in the very fabric of civil society and democracy, in deepening and expanding the ability of the most impacted communities and all communities to meaningfully engage and participate in democracy and decisions that affect their lives. This transforms and strengthens the quality of democracy for all.
We organize progressive groups and organizations in Europe by building networks, developing organizing capacity, convening organizers to learn and collaborate across borders, coordinating campaigns, and supporting the sustainability of the organizing movement in Europe.
Organizing is a strategic intervention for systemic change that shifts power to the most affected communities and we are interested in exploring how it can be combined and integrated with other interventions as part of wider social movements strategies. Collaboration and alliances among different actors in the movement ecosystem is crucial to build the power and scale needed for systemic change.
We co-host international organizing convenings on organizing online and offline with members, partners, and donors contributing to building and strengthening relationships, learning exchange and collaboration among diverse actors within and beyond the organizing movement in Europe. Here are some of the international convenings we host:
ECON leads and participates in several international organizing programmes contributing to our strategic priorities of building the network, developing organizing capacity, coordinating solidarity campaigns, and supporting the sustainability of the organizing movement in Europe. To learn more, click on each of the organizing programs below:
We gather and share stories of community organizing from different countries to document the experiences and history of the organizing movement in Europe. We hope these stories will inspire reflection and learning on the processes, outcomes and lessons learned from this practice, and show the transformative power of community organizing in the long-term journey towards systemic change. If you would like to share your organizing story with us, we’d be happy to get in touch.
Read stories of organizing from the European organizing movement.
ECON is a hub for the community organizing movement in Europe. We support organizers, groups and organizations to build collective power to respond to systemic injustices and emerging crises and create a just and democratic future for all
