Community organization

The term is used in several senses today. On the one hand, it refers to organizing and developing an area, in our case, cultural, human and community-based social and economic organization, conducted in cultural, church, civic, entrepreneurial and non-profit organizations, governmental or municipal institutions, integrated, multi-functional organizations and institutions. Community organizers perform direct planning, organizing, assessing, controlling, animating and coordinating tasks in the areas of community education, youth support and human development, in the municipalities, institutions, organizations and communities, and in the diverse venues of community education, youth services and adult education. In these functions they collaborate with the institutions and organizations involved in such tasks, especially in the areas of culture, public education, social services, adult education and local economy development.[1]

Community organization in another, actionist approach, focuses more on exerting pressure and enforcing interests rather than on community development fostering shared solutions, mutual understanding and collaboration. The main starting point is to make marginalised classes and vulnerable groups a factor of power with the expressed intent to empower them to influence, with democratic means, the processes and decisions that affect them. Ideally, organized community groups are already on board when preparing decisions, but if they cannot achieve results, they might find conflicts and fighting necessary to achieve the required social changes. [2]