Tools for Community Action
Code: 43659Credits: 9
| Degree programme | Type | Course |
|---|---|---|
| Social Policy and Community Action | OB | 1 |
Contact lecturer
- Name :
- Carolina Alejandra Muñoz Mendoza
- Email :
- carolina.munoz@uab.cat
Teaching staff (external to UAB)
- Carme Montserrat Boada
- Enric Canet
- Quim Brugué
- Eduard Carrera Fosas
Group languages
You can consult this information at the end of the document.
Prerequisites
There are no prerequisites for this course.
Objectives
The objective of this module is to equip students to understand and apply tools for the design, dynamization, implementation, and evaluation of community actions. The content focuses on community action management processes and knowledge of methodologies and tools used by various actors in public administration and civil society.
Learning outcomes
- (CA13) Review personal or team skills, necessary for the application of tools of invigoration and community action.
- (CA14) Create innovative tools for community revitalisation, which motivate collective participation.
- (KA13) Recognise the foundations and applications of community action as a method of social intervention of a political nature, aimed at the collective approach to specific social problems.
- (KA14) Conceptually and empirically distinguish methodologies and tools of community action, identifying their relevance to the territorial contexts where they are applied.
- (SA13) Analyse the relevance of specific methodologies of invigoration and community action, considering the territorial contexts, resources and needs of the actors concerned.
- (SA14) Structure alternatives for solving or improving the application of tools for community action in the diagnosis, design, execution and evaluation of these processes.
Contents
• Evaluation of process objectives and project objectives.
• Design of a stakeholder engagement strategy.
• Development of community programming.
• Planning and mobilization of coordination, technical, and neighborhood spaces.
• Community assessment as a mobilization strategy.
• Participatory action research in community action.
• Analysis of community networks.
• Mapping techniques for community action.
• Participatory methodologies for community action.
Learning activities and methodology
| Title | Hours | ECTS | Learning outcomes |
|---|---|---|---|
| Type: Autonomous | |||
| Readings, Information search, Observations, Review and/or creation of written, educational or audiovisual materials, Reflections, notes and personal study, Essays, among others. | 102.5 | 4.1 | CA13, CA14, KA13, KA14, SA13, SA14 |
| Type: Guided | |||
| Case study visits, Master classes, Guest talks, DIscussions, Observations, Tours, Walks. | 50 | 2 | CA13, CA14, KA13, KA14, SA13, SA14 |
| Type: Supervised | |||
| Ejercicios de aplicación teórico-conceptual y práctica. | 22.5 | 0.9 | CA13, CA14, KA13, KA14, SA13, SA14 |
The course is based on and applied according to the \"Empirical Case Study Methodology\" and, more specifically, on \"Case Analysis for Training or Pedagogical Purposes.\" The core focus is on \"practical case studies,\" where students will make in-person field visits to different areas of Catalonia to learn about specific experiences with social-community policies and programs and the various actors involved.
The activities combine theoretical and conceptual classes, including a specific class on Practical Case Study Methodology, where students will learn about its foundations, characteristics, and applications, as a framework prior to the field visits. The other classes address contemporary approaches to the analysis of social reality with the aim of providing a preliminary analytical framework that students will apply to the cases.
Subsequently, the Practical Case Studies themselves are conducted, which include a contextualization session, field visits, and an analysis and closing session, which guides the final assignments that students will be required to complete.
Each Case Study combines lectures with field visits, readings, group and/or individual exercises, and support for their completion.
Prior to the visits, students will be required to research contextual information about the territories they will visit, beyond what is provided in the course.
Note: 15 minutes of each class will be reserved for students to complete the Evaluation Surveys about the curses, case studies and the teachers'work.
Assessment
Continuous assessment activities
| Title | Weight | Hours | ECTS | Learning outcomes |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Final Exercise Case 7.1 | 50% | 25 | 1 | CA13, CA14, KA13, KA14, SA13, SA14 |
| Final Exercise Case 7.2 | 50% | 25 | 1 | CA13, CA14, KA13, KA14, SA13, SA14 |
The assessment system will consist of two assessment activities, one for each practical case. The assessment of the instructor or the teacher will be determined by specific criteria focused on the students' ability to integrate all the content covered in the classes, the visits, the supplementary materials, and the discussions generated with the student.
Prior to each assessment, students will be informed of the specific criteria under which their work will be assessed, and the corresponding grade will be assigned.
Students will have access to spaces at the center where the classes are taught to promote exchange and shared reflection when completing their assessment work.
Attendance at all activities in this course is 100% mandatory; absences from any of these activities must be justified by the Master's Coordinator and, if authorized, may not exceed 20%.
A student will be considered to have obtained a grade of Not Assessable if they have attended fewer than 80% of the module sessions without authorization from the Master's Coordinator, even if they have previously submitted a project and received a partial grade.
The commission of any irregularity in an assessment (academic fraud, plagiarism or improper use of AI, unless such use is expressly authorised in the course guide), which may lead to a significant change in the grade, will result in that attempt being marked with a 0. If the course guide stipulates that obtaining a minimum mark in this assessment is a prerequisite for passing the module, or if multiple irregularities occur in the assessments for the same module, the final mark for that module will be 0. In addition, disciplinary proceedings may be initiated against any student who commits any of these irregularities.
Bibliography
Basagoiti Rodríguez, M., & Bru Martín, P. (2024). Els processos comunitaris en contextos de vulnerabilitat i diversitat. El paper de les metodologies participatives. Revista de Treball Social, 227, 13-39.
Barciela Fernández, S.; Lorenzo Gilsanz, F., Martínez Herrero, M (2022). Building from the Ashes: Towards a Three-Dimensional Approach for Social Work Intervention Facing Social Conflicts in Vulnerable Neighbourhoods, The British Journal of Social Work, Volume 52, Issue 3, Pages 1435 1455
Brugué, Q. (2022) Organizaciones que Saben, Organizaciones que Aprenden. Madrid: INAP.
Casademont, X., Boldú, M., & Ginesta, M. (2023). The local governance of social services. Revista Española de Ciencia Política, 63 145-165.
Carrera-Fossas, E. & Brugué, Quim (2025). Neighbourhood organization as a way of addressing vulnerability: a case study of a community mediation programme in Olot, Spain. Space and Polity, 29(2)
Carrera, E., Brugué, Q., & Casademont, X. (2021). Vulnerabilidad y cronificación de la pobreza: estudio de caso de la exclusión social en Olot (Girona). Revista Española de Ciencia Política, 57, 219-242.
Giménez, C. (2019). La mediación y las metodologías participativas de resolución de conflictos como vía para el fortalecimiento de la democracia. Anuario CEIPAZ, 12, 127–144.
González, M. F. (2016). Viejos problemas y nuevos vecinos. Consecuencias de una gran reforma urbana en el barrio del Raval, Barcelona. AIBR. Revista de Antropología Iberoamericana, 11(2), 225-245.
Gutmann, A. & Thompson, D. (2004) Why Deliberatives Democracy? Princeton: Princeton University Press.
Martín Uceda, J., & Brugué, J. (2021). Desigualtat i vulnerabilitat- Geografies de l’exclusió i la vulnerabilitat. Revista de Girona, 325, 66-69.
Zubero, I. (2010). Confianza ciudadana y capital social en sociedades multiculturales. Vitoria: Ikuspegi, Cuadernos, 1, 49.
Software
No software is required.
Course groups and languages
The information provided is provisional until November 30. After this date, you will be able to consult the language of each group through this link. To access the information, you will need to enter the course CODE
| Type of teaching | Group | Language | Semester | Shift |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| (TEm) Theory (master) | 1 | Catalan/Spanish | second semester | morning-mixed |
| (VEXTm) Visites externes a entitats (màster) | 1 | Catalan/Spanish | second semester | morning-mixed |