From the neighbourhood to the city, from the city to citizenship: Participatory action research and community organization in the context of public housing

Abstract

This article presents the structuring aspects and the main results of the project “Há Vida em S. Lázaro”, developed by residents of a council housing estate located in the city of Amarante, in Northern Portugal. Based on the principles and guidelines of participatory action research (PAR), this community-based social and educational project focused on promoting reflection, dialogue, interaction, and inclusion, considered crucial factors for strengthening social ties, (re)constructing local experiences and solidarities, and creating renewed forms of (self-)organization and citizen participation.

Through the action of a core group of around ten residents-participants, the project contributed both to the transformation of everyday social relationships and practices, thus meeting several pressing personal and social needs, and to the change of the Municipality's approach to this council housing estate, making that approach a more humanized, active, and participated one. Basing on the conviction that it is possible to build pathways of change through the social and educational development of persons and communities; the achievements and results of this project provide insights regarding the revision and renewal of forms of community intervention in contexts so often marked by social and political relegation such as public housing.