In this working group we want to explore the European challenges as they are experienced in the local places where churches and diaconal organisations are active. The local is important. It is the place where we see the values of the society in operation, where we can also test the commitment to an inclusive society. But the local also is the place where effective action for change must be grounded. In the workshop we will share experience of the main issues affecting localities. Then we will analyse the main causes and the background to the issues uncovered. The third step will be theological and ethical reflection and finally we will look for visions and strategies to address the challenges. So far I have talked about localities. How far life in localities can be called ‘community life’ is an open question, which we will also explore.

Diaconia has to focus on the key issues that prevent localities from becoming sustainable communities. This means working with those ‘Forgotten People in Forgotten Places’ who do not make the headlines, but whose stories reflect back the underlying values of our economies and societies. The paragraphs below give a brief sketch of some of the main problems and their consequences. But we should begin by recognising that it is by such forgotten people in forgotten places that so many creative initiatives are developed. The ability to resist and to find new ways not only to survive and to press for change are part of the hope for the future and are a cause for celebration. Diaconal work has to start not with the ‘arithmetic of woe’ but in the public space, with the lives and stories of people, with their own skills, capacities and understandings.

The concrete problems vary from situation, from rural to urban areas. Objectively we are speaking about areas which as suffering the impacts of growing poverty and inequality. So much so that in many areas even basic survival needs cannot be guaranteed. This is not only associated with unemployment. In some cases people are earning their poverty. In others people are working for no pay, in an attempt to keep their factory, their only means of support functioning. Many work without contracts and without legal protection for health, welfare and pensions – let alone for the accidents which happen in the workplace. Financial pressure is so great that people are often unable to manage the competing demands of rents and energy costs – in some cases two incomes are hardly sufficient to cover these basics. This kind of tragic situation is becoming normal life in many European localities. In some old industrial areas, three generations have lived through the experience of ‘unemployment as normal’.

The consequences are many – people leave to other areas and countries, people move from the countryside to the city. There are internal and external ‘brain drains’ which further diminish the chances for sustainability. Homelessness is growing and those facing other challenges such as mental or physical disability often find themselves even more excluded. There is growing violence, alcoholism and substance abuse. Such situations are breeding grounds for all kinds of sectarianism, extremism and fundamentalism. In the absence of a functioning economy, the lower levels of many informal and non-legal economies are rising up, networked to international criminal groups. There is a growth in trafficking of people into and out of such areas.

It is important also to recognise the very different experiences of life in the same area. Women, tend to suffer double exploitation – in the labour market where their pay and conditions are worse than those for men and at home where they are mainly responsible for the household economy and for family work. Poverty is increasingly an issue of women and children in the European context. Also, many cities which have major structural economic problems are the home to people who have migrated from even more difficult places in search of a chance to survive. So there is also growing racism and xenophobia, not only among white people within such areas, but also from people living

in mainly white areas that feel threatened.

• What is your starting point for understanding the reasons why communities are not sustainable?
• What are the most important issues and experiences that have to be faced in your region or locality?

Just as it is tempting but misleading to only see ‘people as problems’ in areas where there is poverty and exclusion, it is also tempting and misleading to see the causes of problems located where the symptoms of hurt appear. The causes of poverty and unsustainability can be traced to the major changes that have affected Europe in recent years.

1. In western Europe the main reason why there are areas marked by poverty and social exclusion is the impact of economic change. In some cases it is structural economic change caused by changes in technology or political policy. In other cases it is the impact of economic cycles in the short term, which are not correctly addressed. The reason for the growth of poverty and exclusion in central and eastern Europe is the impact of the ‘transition’ process, which has had devastating consequences on many rural and urban regions. For example privatisation led to the liquidation or loss of many economic assets and the overseas flight of the capital they represented. Rural areas and old industrial areas are affected everywhere to a greater or lesser extent.

But structural economic change and the transition from central planning have also taken place under the specific conditions of globalisation and the impact of neo-liberalism on market policies. This has had a number of important consequences:

• not only has poverty, including absolute poverty, increased, this has happened in the context of growing inequality. In some countries there is almost no (economic) middle class. In some western countries inequality is now greater than at any time since the mid-nineteenth century
• local markets, which were weak, labour intensive or poorly developed have been heavily impacted by goods and services from outside, with little possibility for protection during transition. For example subsidised agricultural production from western Europe agribusiness, which quickly penetrated eastern Europe, has been one cause of the inability of rural sustainable communities to emerge in so many situations. Narrow criteria of financial viability have destroyed many enterprises that offered the base from which a sustainable economic future could have been developed.
• social systems, education and health care have in some cases been privatised without the recognition that advanced economies need such fully functioning systems to flourish and develop. In the most successful economies in Europe the social state is not shrinking (even though precise functions and allocations may be changing). The neo-liberal ideology tends to ignore such realities and if applied in transition economies this can be disastrous, short and long-term
• the impact of financially driven policies has transformed cities, often eradicating public space, squeezing out poor communities and creating new enclaves of affluent and rich people and related infrastructures.

2. As at other times of major economic change, one of the causes of the present flow of migrants is the chronic economic problems, not only of localities but also of regions. In some cases the instability has also led to war and civil conflict. Ironically in a period of history when freedom is celebrated, freedom to move for the many is curtailed with severe political and military action. Many countries are both recipients of migrants and countries of migration. This is the subject of another theme group but it is an important factor to address in the search for sustainability.

3. When we look to the creation of sustainable communities one of the key challenges is the issue of racism, because the localities which can find the ways to face up to the reality of society in diversity will be sustainable in the longer term. We use the term ‘society in diversity’ in distinction from the more usual multicultural society. It is important to face up to the fact that culture and religion are linked to experiences of injustice and oppression and represent ways to resist or support transformations of unjust or oppressive situations. Therefore the strategies we adopt must be based on the struggle for justice and against racism which is a public matter deeply connected to citizenship, democracy and sustainability

There are three other ways of analysing and addressing this issue, which are mainly developed by white society. The first is that of the multi-cultural society (multiculturalism), which is based on the notion that culture is essentially a private business and which ascribes identities to specific ‘other’ groups which are given and static (such as values, precepts, religious beliefs). There follows a kind of ‘free-market toleration’ of cultural flows and This is reflected in an interest in enjoying consumer experiences from the 'other’ cultures. Multiculturalism tends to ignore the questions of power, ascribed to different cultures and to detach citizenship and human rights from a person’s religious or cultural identity. Identity may be partly constructed and chosen but there is no total freedom of cultural choice! Multiculturalism is strongly committed to exchange of information and experience. It is not interested in the role of culture and religion either as a means of resistance, or as part of the search for alternatives in the public realm. A second option is multi-communitarianism, which represents the idea that each group has its own internally validated cultural identity and the main value is the cultural purity of the group itself. There is no specific interest in dialogue with other cultures or religions. From this point of view the main thing is to live side by side, peaceably with each group cultivating its own ethos and purity. The third option is that of the racist or ethnic purist, which is gaining support for a variety of reasons when economic insecurity is increasing. There are different dynamics in different regions of Europe. In some cases such ideas of purity have arisen in situations of economic collapse. In other cases they have been revived at a time of economic and social anxiety. It is easy to put all the blame for such insecurity on the alleged defence of a ‘white community identity’ against foreigners and people of colour. It is not unusual in political discussion to find the ‘war against crime’ mixed into a discussion about migration. Its only a short step to infer a two faced threat of a foreign influx and rising crime.

The basic position is clear - racism, which is to be found in every part of life and in every institution, has to be named, confessed and combated. This is the foundation of sustainable community. Following from that it is important to develop the communication, which can allow the formation of a society in diversity. From the perspective of central, eastern & southern Europe is also important to note that in the recent past Europeans have lost the capacity to learn from the many hidden and lost histories of Europe. In spite of all the known conflicts, there are remarkable histories of many cultures living side by side across Europe with relatively little conflict. It seems that this has been almost entirely forgotten in the fundamentalist resurgence of the past decade. It could be that here there are resources for the future on which Europe now can learn.

• Are there important analytical factors that should be added to this section from your point of view?
• How do you analyse the connections between your local situation and the wider structural changes in Europe? How are these changes reflected in the biographies of those with whom you work?
• How do you face the challenge of ‘society in diversity’

So far, this paper did not address the question of sustainability from the point of view of the environment and ecology. Our priority is the people of a locality and the building up of a sustainable community, economically, socially and culturally. The first question has to be the people and the communication between them. Then come the concrete issues related to the economy, political structures, the environment and culture. The attitude to the environment should come from a desire to see people and communities flourish. This has repercussions for work and for politics and democracy.

The starting point for our consideration is that those who are the poor, ‘the least’ are the centre of concern because in the treatment of the poor, the children, the elderly, and the stranger you find revealed the true values and priorities of the society. It is not what the leaders and opinion formers articulate as the values and priorities, which is our guideline, but the concrete situation of the people. And when we look to theological tradition we also find that there is an emphasis on inclusive justice for the poor and of sharing and jubilee as a means to restore justice. In our analysis we saw the structural causes of personal and community problems and we have to find ways of addressing structural sin. This is also a factor related to the criminalising of poor people through discriminatory laws or laws which criminalise certain behaviours.

Two issues underlie the threat to sustainability – consumerism and the way in which so much of our life is commodified, shopping eats time and blocks communication. It also fuels demands for more and more consumer goods and novel products and experiences. When we look even to Europe, we see that such a high level of consumerism as is found in some regions could not sustainable be transferred to the whole of Europe let alone the whole world. So if poor areas are to become sustainable it means affluent people and areas will have to change.

We also have to analyse the impact of existing church and diaconal models in fostering sustainable local communities and economies. There is a growing trend of borrowing ideas for project development and management from government and secular agencies, without due regard for the different priorities which may emerge in different local situations, or the different time-scales which may affect sustainable development in each place (the time of the street). Too often, project models have been quickly imposed which also turn out to be unsustainable. These dynamics maybe more clearly seen in international work, but maybe they also affect local work.

Perhaps we have to criticise the ‘project mentality’ because of its incomplete understanding of accountability. If we take the inclusive approach to diaconia, not seeing it as a ‘department’ or function of the church but a defining mark of the church, it cannot be reduced to a classic project format. First of all it will affect all aspects of the life of the church as concrete needs are placed in the centre of liturgy, service, theology, decision making. Secondly, the starting point for a diaconal church will be in the ‘street’, the ‘public space’ and the theological conversation will be with those who are the forgotten people. In this way the church will become one of the ‘spaces of hope’ in the locality.

I have raised a question about the use of the word community, which may be too restrictive in areas where we see the big need for communication between people – and where the church community may be introverted. Community points us more in the direction of roots, but conviviality in the direction of open communication. Therefore ‘conviviality’ is a useful alternative, related to the idea of living together and sharing common food and creating special occasions out of the mundane materials of life, to celebrate together. But ‘conviviality’ can also be used in relation to the recognition of the variety of ways in which people make and remake their world. It is a critique of all forms of work, which deny humanity or which degrade other living things and the environment. You could say movements do not move without conviviality, including of course the basic idea of eating and drinking and celebrating together. This idea is a challenge to the values of the dominant society, which are reflected in individualism and acquisitiveness and it invites people into a new ethic of sharing without coercion.

• Which of these theological or social ethical issues are most important in your understanding of diaconia, in relation to building sustainable community? Which others?
• How do you see the possibilities for conviviality in your work?

If diaconia is not an extra for the church, but essential to it, the church will always be working in the ‘fractures’, the breaks, the points of hurt and disturbance. The starting point is usually the church or diaconal institution. If that is so, then every person, situation is already defined from within the church or diaconal institution. Forgotten people are already being defined and named by the church and diaconial organisations before they are encountered. This is dangerous and counter-productive. The vision of diaconia is based on communication, first of all seeing and hearing. But seeing and hearing in the street, the public space. Communication in the public space. Looking not through the eyes of professional leadership, but through the eyes of the ‘invisible inhabitants’, the forgotten people. It is through such horizontal communication that situations are named and meaning is given. It is through such communication the knowledge is developed. Aside from such communication there is only speculation or imposed solution. The vision of conviviality presupposes communication and that is a risky business! But on the basis of this communication process many concrete actions can be developed. This communication in the public space will also have implications for liturgy, theology and sacrament, as they will be transformed.

It is important to recognise the centrality of biography, of life story. This is especially so if we want to work with society in diversity. The starting point is the need to treat every history, religion, and culture of the people in a locality with the same respect. These factors of religion, culture and history have the right of existence when they serve humanity and justice. But whereas multiculturalism somehow views all cultures as being on a similar level and somehow internally complete, what we find in reality is that cultures and religions evolve in local circumstances as responses often to oppression. Therefore we have to raise up the reality of the suffering, injustice and exclusion that certain cultures and religions in our localities express. It is a travesty simply to see these as ‘culturally interesting’ rather than to somehow be in solidarity with people as they seek justice and participation in the public space. Such a process will also change the Christian community, the diaconal organisation whose members participate in the communication, the action.

Starting with communication and continuing with communication means that diaconal action is a part of the development of civil society and so is contributing to building up and renewing democracy, to building up shared values and traditions. There will be a process of empowerment that will lead to engagement with political structures, the creation of new social, economic and cultural initiatives, resistance, campaigns, and alternatives. The preferred organisational form will be the network because in a network, people freely participate and no one is coerced. This also has implications for the structures of the churches and diaconia. No one denies the need for institutions but to build sustainable localities, institutions first have to be transcended. They can be useful servants and tools but they too can be transformed and become themselves convivial in this process.

• How do you evaluate the idea that diaconia is about communication and that it has to start outside the church or institution, in the ‘public space’?
• What resources, training and networking are needed to support this concept of diaconia?