Developing leaders, strengthening communities, revitalising democracy

Here at NCCO we have a simple mission: to help future-proof democracy in the Nordics. We believe that Broad-Based Community Organising, a method focused on training and developing leaders from a wide range of communities, is a good way to do so.

Broad-Based Community Organising is a method developed by leaders in the USA, and we are spending our time adapting and translating the method to the Nordics.

The best way to learn, we’ve found, is to practice - and we’re very lucky to have found a group of community leaders in the Nordics willing to learn with us.

That is why we from 2023-2025 are piloting three projects in Stockholm and Umeå funded by Folkbildningsrådet. The pilot projects are limited in both time and place, and their aim is to explore how a group of civil society leaders can use the method to build power and achieve change in their specific contexts.

We see this as only the beginning of our learning journey, and are actively looking for partnerships, collaborations and funding opportunities to continue the work of bringing Broad-Based Community Organising to the Nordics.

Our Pilot Projects

2023-2025

  • A partnership between Studiefrämjandet, Umeå Folkhögskola, and Bilda Study association.

    We are training 3 local Community Organisers to host Weaving Trusts, a relational workshop developed by Citizens UK to enable meetings across differences.

    Over the course of 12 months, the team has gathered over 100 leaders and hosted the Nordics first Mass Weaving Trust.

    In the autumn of 2025, the team will host the first ever Broad-Based Community Organising two-day training completely in Swedish.

  • Hosted by Studiefrämjandet. We are training 2 Community Organisers to lead a group through the 5 steps to social change - a method developed by Citizens UK to enable local communities to win change.

    Over the course of 12 months, the team has spoken and listened to over 500 residents in Järva, and started campaigning groups on the most deeply and widely felt issues.

  • A partnership between Sensus and Stockholms Stadsmission. We are training 3 Community Organisers to lead a group through the 5 steps to social change, a method developed by Citizens UK.

    The team has trained 12 local leaders to conduct listening in their communities, and reached over 300 residents in Skärholmen.

    Together, they hosted the Nordics first Discerning Assembly to identify the top two priorities of Skärholmen - and are currently supporting two campaigning groups to win change on issues that really matter.

Our project partners