Salve! proposes new
ways of thinking about
and implementing public
safety based on the common good.
A training program for young creators in the Baixada
Santista region, featuring a community-based
initiative focused on reflection and action
regarding climate action regarding climate justice
through audiovisual media.
The SulxSouth network was founded as a collective
initiative that seeks to unite, strengthen, and
amplify the voices of the Global South in the
fight against environmental injustices through
collaboration and mutual support.
The Rede pelo Clima aims to
address the challenges of
climate change and
promote action regarding climate
in the Baixada Santista region through
a collaborative network.
PROCOMUM
Procomum is a nonprofit organization dedicated to advancing climate justice, democracy, and care as the foundations for building a shared world. It promotes citizen leadership through a territorial and community-based approach, supporting spaces for experimentation and collective action that strengthen community autonomy in the pursuit of more just, inclusive, and regenerative societies.
The Institute operates two community-based labs dedicated to strengthening networks in Santos (SP) and Brasília (DF). These physical spaces and projects serve as open infrastructures for knowledge production, experimentation, and the promotion of community engagement, autonomy, and leadership through methodologies that embrace diversity and foster connections, with care as the central focus of both practical and political action.
Purpose
Strengthen citizen participation and political co-production through collaborative spaces and methodologies that promote collective action, the common good, and well-being, generating shared solutions to contemporary problems.
This mission is carried out through territorial, relational, and political action, which recognizes that today’s challenges demand collective responses, built together with people and rooted in their life contexts, knowledge, and dreams. Local action—understanding the territory as a network of practices, experiences, and social technologies that sustain the commons—expands into global advocacy, through a coalition for citizen-led innovation in partnership with countries of the Global South.
Values
Focus on the common good
as a fundamental political practice and as a prerequisite for building futures guided by the principle of good living. Here, the common good translates into a central guiding principle for reorganizing social coexistence. It is an arrangement and a process through which the management and organization of resources by a community or by society as a whole are ensured.
Encounter as a driver of social transformation
By creating conditions for meaningful connections, mutual recognition, and experimentation, their work fosters collective learning, autonomy, and the capacity for shared action.
Be careful
with people, with relationships, with resources, and with local areas, viewing care as both a means and an end to political participation and citizen-led innovation. Care (for oneself, for others, and for us) serves as the foundation that organizes communities and the protocols managed by those same communities.
What
WE DO?
WE BRING
COMMUNITIES TOGETHER
We connect people, communities, and regions.
We empower communities and individuals who are committed to pursuing their dreams and a better life. We value diverse knowledge, expertise, and personal journeys.
We facilitate gatherings that foster experimentation, collective learning, and autonomy.
WE TEST
SOLUTIONS
We create citizen-led labs and collaborative processes.
We facilitate political collaborations through spaces and methodologies that promote and strengthen collective action, the common good, and well-being, generating collective solutions to contemporary problems.
WE TURN KNOWLEDGE INTO ACTION
We believe in community-based solutions and citizen leadership as tools for political participation and empowering people.
We write publications and develop methodologies, and we also engage in public advocacy.
good as a
WE DO IT
WE TURN
KNOWLEDGE in
COMMON
GOODS
To this end, we have developed methodologies, products, services, and frameworks that can be utilized, replicated, and adapted. They are organized under the following strategies:
Citizen Innovation is the co-creation of solutions to collective problems, led by those who experience them and characterized by experimentation, care, and a focus on the common good. This innovation is not organized according to the exclusivity and competition typical of the market, but rather through collaboration, openness, and creative co-creation. It is a technology that emerges from communities organized around the common good, such as suburbs, traditional communities, and neighborhood associations.
To learn more about citizen innovation, explore the methodologies MARAL – Metodologia de Ativação e Redes Locais and the CLIC – Colaboratório de Inovação Cidadã para o Desenvolvimento Social.
Strengthening networks is a central pillar of Procomum’s work. Through mapping, mobilizing contributors, and fostering connections among individuals, collectives, and organizations, the Institute strengthens the social fabric, expands channels of exchange, and bolsters existing initiatives, recognizing that social transformation is built on the creation of lasting alliances and sustained collective action. The methodology also ensures that the structure of these networks is based on protocols, shared knowledge, and systematized care practices, with the potential to influence public policies and institutional processes both locally and across the Global South.
To learn more about network activation, visit the Rede SulxSouth, the Rede pelo Clima and the Colaboradora.
Making care visible—recognizing it, distributing it, and practicing it—is a strategy of Procomum, which views care as the foundation of the social, political, and institutional relationships that sustain life.The technology of care manifests itself in various ways in Procomum’s approach, such as in the creation of gatherings that prioritize the time, motivation, and mental health of everyone involved; in the provision of grants that enable people to commit to and dedicate themselves to opportunities for social participation; and in the celebration of care as a narrative of empowerment.
To learn more about care practices, visit the La Cuida.
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PERMANENT LABORATORIES
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TIMELINE
Public Safety, Climate, and Care
More partnerships with the Global South, a new public safety agenda based on care and coexistence, and the strengthening of local climate governance.
Completed projects:
LAB Sul x South
An online lab created as a result of the Encontro Sul x South event, which strengthened partnerships among organizations and initiatives in the Global South. The group worked on decolonial climate narratives, creating and supporting initiatives that reimagined the climate agenda from the perspective of those most affected.
LAB Salve!
Salve! proposes new ways of thinking about and implementing public safety based on the community. Care and coexistence form the foundation for creating social technologies developed with and for those who live in the city and want to make it safer and more collaborative.
The first laboratory and the development of prototypes that reimagine public safety took place in 2025 in Santos, São Paulo.
Clima LAB
Clima LAB is a citizen-led laboratory dedicated to creating solutions and prototypes that strengthen citizen participation and climate governance within Santos’ Municipal Climate Action Plan (PACS), engaging the public to take ownership of and actively contribute to its implementation.
Climate Justice and Citizen Innovation
The issue of climate justice is taking center stage in the organization’s local and international initiatives. At the same time, the organization is making strides in citizen-driven innovation in public policy.
Completed projects:
LAB Narrativas Climáticas
The International LAB on Climate Narratives was organized by Procomum in partnership with the Nigerian organization Surge Africa, bringing together stakeholders from different parts of the Global South to discuss the issue of climate justice and develop joint solutions to the challenges facing each region. The event also featured a Lightning Lab.
CLIC – Colaboratório de Inovação Cidadã
CLIC served as a hub for citizen-driven solutions aimed at improving the public’s understanding of the Federal Government’s Single Registry for Social Programs (CadÚnico) and its functions.
The project was carried out in partnership with GNova Lab—the Government Innovation Laboratory at the National School of Public Administration (ENAP)—the Ministry of Social Development (MDS), the Office of the Comptroller General, and the Organization of Ibero-American States for Education, Science, and Culture.
Rede Pelo Clima
The Climate Network aims to address the challenges of climate change and promote climate justice in the Baixada Santista region through a collaborative network. Regular listening sessions, mapping exercises, and training sessions were held to strengthen the Network.
Encontro SulxSouth
An international meeting that brought together 48 participants from organizations working on human rights and climate justice from 16 countries in Latin America, Africa, the Middle East, and Asia. Over the course of five days at LAB Procomum, activists established a support network to develop projects and engage with the Global South’s agenda on the issue.
Care and Climate
The organization is expanding its international reach by promoting the care economy agenda in Latin America and deepening its exploration of philanthropy, climate justice, and environmental racism.
Completed projects:
La Cuida
The Laboratory for Activating the Care Economy in Latin America is a platform that has organized citizen-led workshops to develop and prototype ideas related to the care economy, care, and the commons. This year’s program includes a workshop in Colombia and another in Uruguay.
Filantropia Raiz
The Power of Communities That Make a Difference
A seminar designed to foster and promote reflection on the relationship between philanthropy and the commons, both within and outside the Procomum Institute.
LAB Tempestade
LAB Tempestade was a collaborative laboratory dedicated to developing solutions for the effects of the climate crisis in local communities, such as floods, landslides, and discussions on environmental racism. Its first edition took place in the first half of 2023 in Recife. It was later replicated in the Baixada Santista region, at the headquarters of LAB Procomum.
Grassroots philanthropy
This year marks the consolidation of local philanthropy initiatives, reinforcing the commitment to social justice and community development.
Rede Comuá
We have joined the Comuá Network, which brings together organizations working in the philanthropic sector that are committed to social justice and the defense of rights. Together with six other organizations that are part of the network, we have created the Territorial Alliance – Strengthening Communities and Territories, with the goal of highlighting the unique aspects of philanthropy with a territorial focus.
(Re)Opening Our Doors
The organization is launching the Circuito Territórios Comuns initiative and establishing its first affiliate focused on affordable housing (ATHIS).
Completed projects:
Circuito Territórios Comuns
The Circuito Territórios Comuns was created to foster a community of creators, innovators, and artists who are currently involved in—or have previously participated in—programs run by LAB Procomum and the Procomum Institute, and who were unable to carry out their work due to pandemic-related isolation and difficulties in accessing material and human resources.
Primeira Colaboradora – ATHIS
The ATHIS Collaboration was a collaborative initiative for architects and urban planners focused on developing initiatives, prototypes, and solutions based on the ATHIS Law (Technical Assistance for Social Housing) and Urban Commons, in specific areas of the Baixada Santista region (Vila Margarida in São Vicente, and Bela Vista and Vila Progresso in Santos).
Solidarity and networking
In response to the COVID-19 pandemic, the organization launched an emergency solidarity and resource distribution initiative, coordinating a broad institutional partnership and demonstrating the strength of community networks and locally-based philanthropy.
Campanha Baixada pela Vida
The "Baixada Pela Vida" campaign raised over R$320,000 distributed to 9,000 people (225 families from 26 indigenous communities, 150 homeless people, and 2,179 families from urban communities).
The fund distributed food baskets, entrepreneur grants, food vouchers, hygiene kits, protective masks, and faceshields and blankets. He also funded the production of promotional materials for the “Art on the Dike” initiative, organized in partnership with the Santos Citizenship Forum, the Elos Institute, and the Diocese of Santos.
LAB Procomum as an interdisciplinary structure
The Procomum LAB has begun hosting various working and research groups, thereby establishing its initial guidelines for collaboration. We have also expanded and deepened our exploration of local philanthropy in conjunction with the social entrepreneurship agenda.
Colaboradora – Empreender e Transformar
The first edition of Colaboradora – Empreender e Transformar took place. This edition adapted the methodology to offer open enrollment training in social entrepreneurship, combining training with hands-on experience in collaborative practices for social entrepreneurs, artists, and other creative professionals. The goal was to strengthen cooperation, build networks, and expand participants’ skill sets.
A structure for the common good
In 2018, we opened the doors of LAB Procomum with the Ocupe LABxS initiative. It was a journey of prototyping solutions to bring our space to life and foster innovation in the region. We also launched the first class of our collaboration school.
Completed projects:
Establishment of the Procomum LAB
LAB Procomum was founded in Santos (SP) as a community-based laboratory and cultural center dedicated to the collaborative and collective production of the commons through methods of community listening and participation.
Colaboradora
Arts and Communities
We also held the first edition of Colaboradora – Arts and Communities. Colaboradora is a collaborative platform that combines a free training school with a creative, collective environment for work and experimentation. The inspiration came from the “La Colaboradora” project, a program of the Zaragoza Activa social innovation ecosystem in Spain.
It's time to hit the streets!
In the organization’s first year of operation, we conducted two training sessions: The Circles of the Common and also a Citizen Innovation Festival in Santos (SP).
Launch of the First Innovation Circuit and Publication of the MARAL Methodology – Methodology for Activating the Local Network
The Procomum Institute held the first edition of the LABxS Circuit in the Baixada Santista region. The circuit served as the basis for the creation of the organization’s first published methodology, the MARAL Methodology, which was recognized by the BB Foundation in 2026 as one of the ten most important social technologies in Brazil.
An organization is born
Procomum was founded at a time of rising intolerance and violence. The solution lies in viewing collective building and co-creation as ways to address the challenges facing Brazilian society. The organization also grew out of LAB.Irinto, an international laboratory and seminar dedicated to exploring citizen innovation and the very foundation of the institution itself.
Founding of the Instituto Procomum
The organization was founded by Georgia Nicolau, Marília Guarita, and Rodrigo Savazoni with the aim of bringing together people, organizations, and initiatives around a common purpose: to imagine and build collective solutions to the major challenges of our time through citizen-driven innovation, the promotion of traditional knowledge, and the unconditional defense of the commons.
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THEMES
Peripheral, traditional, and other minority communities contribute the least to the worsening climate crisis, yet they suffer the most from its consequences; often, they are also at the forefront of advocating for sustainable practices and a good life. Procomum activates networks in the Baixada Santista region and the Global South to influence climate agenda policies, narratives, and practices, focusing on care, community knowledge, and collective action.
In the face of social fragmentation and the erosion of democracy, Procomum works to develop alternatives that strengthen citizen participation and the collective development of political solutions, viewing care as a guarantee of political agency and action. All of Procomum’s projects are guided by the democratic principles of listening, participation, and feedback, inviting people to participate and offering them ways to reclaim their agency in decision-making processes.
Care permeates and underpins Procomum’s entire methodology. It is put into practice in the design of meetings, networks, and projects that value people’s time, opinions, and life experiences. Care is also a tool that ensures equal participation: people who are cared for are able to participate in collaborative efforts, in the development of community-based solutions, and in the formulation of public policy. Care is one of the most overlooked practices in society, and Procomum views it as a means of fostering community, celebration, and connection—all of which are essential to transformation.
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METHODOLOGIES
For a decade, Procomum has been carrying out its work based on the concept of citizen innovation, which involves the co-creation of solutions to collective problems led by those who experience them, and characterized by experimentation, care, and a focus on the common good. This innovation is not organized according to the logic of exclusivity and competition typical of the market, but rather through collaboration, openness, and creative co-creation. It is a form of innovation that emerges from communities organized around the common good, such as suburbs, traditional communities, and neighborhood associations.
Learn about the three methodologies developed by Procomum based on citizen innovation:
Citizen Labs
Citizen innovation labs are collaborative processes that bring together communities, organizations, and often public institutions to create solutions to real challenges facing local areas. More than just a physical space, a lab is a combination of people, networks, methodologies, and resources that makes it possible to test ideas, learn collectively, and turn proposals into concrete actions. Its focus is on placing the community at the center of the process, valuing local knowledge and promoting co-production between citizens and institutions.
In practice, these labs take the form of open calls, collaborative activities, facilitation, mentoring, and prototyping. Throughout the process, proposals and prototypes are developed to address local challenges, while simultaneously empowering individuals, groups, and community networks. The results can inspire new initiatives, be adapted by other communities, or even be incorporated and replicated by public agencies, thereby expanding their impact and reach.
At Procomum, we have developed three types of laboratories:
Permanent Laboratory
It maintains an active community over time, serving as an ongoing platform for gatherings, projects, learning, and experimentation. It offers physical space, a digital environment, or both, providing ongoing support for the development of initiatives and the strengthening of local networks. Procomum operates two permanent labs: LAB Procomum (Santos) and Casa Comum (Brasília-DF).
LABIC (Citizen Innovation Lab)
An intensive program focused on developing proposals that have already emerged from the community. Through open calls, both the proposals and the collaborators who will make up the teams are selected. Over the course of about ten days of collaborative work, the groups develop prototypes with the support of mentoring, facilitation, and knowledge sharing.
Laboratório Relâmpago
A format designed to generate new ideas and proposals by bringing together people with different experiences, knowledge, and perspectives. It typically takes place over four to six weeks, combining group meetings with independent work by the participants. At the end, initial proposals or prototypes emerge that can be developed in subsequent phases.
Citizen Innovation Circuit (MARAL)
The Citizen Innovation Circuit is a journey that identifies, connects, and empowers individuals, groups, and initiatives already working to transform their communities. Through open calls for proposals, microgrants, mentoring, and collaborative activities, it supports the development of public interest projects and strengthens local collaborative networks.
The workshops are conducted using MARAL—the Methodology for Activating Local Networks—developed by the Procomum Institute. The methodology combines listening, mapping, mobilization, and support for citizen-led initiatives to recognize local knowledge, encourage collective action, and amplify the impact of solutions created by the communities themselves.
Colaboradora
A methodological program that combines training and hands-on experience in collaborative practices for social entrepreneurs, artists, and other creative professionals, with the aim of strengthening cooperation, building networks, and expanding their repertoire. Colaboradora offers an open-access program featuring workshops, mentorship, and participation in various events; access to the Procomum LAB; and collaboration with other networks.
FEATURED
PROJECTS
LAB Salve!
Salve! proposes new ways of thinking about and implementing public safety that start with the community. Care and cooperation form the foundation for creating social technologies developed with and for those who live in cities and want to make them safer and more collaborative.
Learn moreRede pelo Clima
Learn moreSul x South
Climate change affects most communities around the world. Their knowledge, practices, and forms of resilience are essential to building effective and lasting solutions. In the face of the intensifying climate crisis, Sul x South was founded as a collective initiative that seeks to unite, strengthen, and amplify the voices of the Global South in confronting environmental injustices through collaboration and mutual support.
Learn moreCrias pelo Clima
The training program is designed for young filmmakers and those interested in audiovisual media from Cubatão, Guarujá, and Santos—regions affected by the impacts of the climate crisis in the Baixada Santista region. It offers a space for gathering, exchange, and collective creation, where participants will deepen their reflections on climate justice while gaining hands-on experience in audiovisual production based on their own territories, experiences, and pressing concerns.
Learn moreClic
CLIC served as a hub for citizen-driven solutions aimed at improving the public’s understanding of the Federal Government’s Single Registry for Social Programs (CadÚnico) and its functions.
The project was carried out in partnership with GNova Lab—the Government Innovation Laboratory at the National School of Public Administration (ENAP)—the Ministry of Social Development (MDS), the Office of the Comptroller General, and the Organization of Ibero-American States for Education, Science, and Culture.
Confluências dos Cuidados
Confluências dos Cuidados is an international initiative that links care and climate justice as inseparable dimensions of a more just and sustainable future. We start from the premise that “care is a political axis that places life at the center”—and, for this reason, it must be recognized as a right, a collective practice, and an ancestral technology of transformation.
Learn moreother projects
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PUBLICATIONS
awards and
ACKNOWLEDGMENTS
Clima LAB Wins Award
Winner of the Tribuna Group 2026 ESG Award in the Governance category
We continue
together!
This recognition underscores the importance of collaborative initiatives that bring together civil society, government, and other sectors to address the region’s climate challenges.
Culture Hub Seal
This recognition highlights the cultural expressions, education, and practices developed within the community, the collaboration within the Cultura Viva network, and the contributions to ensuring access to, protecting, and promoting cultural rights in Brazil.
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TEAM
Board of Directors
Georgia Nicolau | Executive Board
A journalist with experience in social justice initiatives, culture, and the arts, Georgia serves as a facilitator and coordinator in organizational development and civil society strengthening efforts, with a focus on the transition to a more just world and research on good living, the commons, and social justice.
Fabrício de Freitas | Director of Resources
Administrator, actor, and cultural producer, with a degree in Business Administration from UNIP and in Performing Arts from EAC in Santos. He has been working at the institution since 2019 in administrative and financial management. In addition, he works as an actor and executive producer on audiovisual and theatrical projects.
Carlota Mingolla | Institutional Director
Curious and restless by nature, I work as a researcher and consultant for multisectoral initiatives, multilateral organizations, NGOs, companies, and the public sector. My work focuses primarily on research into emerging trends, innovation projects, impact, coalitions, and change management.
Professional team
Beth Pereira | Mobilization and Production Manager
Coming soon.
Cecília Garcia | Gerente de Comunicação
Sou jornalista e escritora. Atuo há mais de dez anos na tarefa de produzir uma comunicação institucional em organizações de terceiro setor que traduzam em narrativas sensíveis os tipos de mundo que elas desejam construir.
Emanuelly Abade | Production Coordinator
Coming soon.
Em breveFernanda Gomes | Resources Manager
Coming soon.
Glaucia Rodrigues | Knowledge Production Analyst
Coming soon.
Henrique Lima | Resources Analyst
Coming soon.
Isa Luz | Institutional Manager
Coming soon.
Coming soon.Jessica Franco | Fundraising Coordinator
Coming soon.
Luiza Xavier | Mobilization and Care Advisor
Coming soon.
Lux Machado | Production Analyst
Coming soon.
Luana Regina | Web Designer
Coming soon.
Mauro Fecco | Mobilization Coordinator
Coming soon.
Niva Silva | Methodology Advisor
Coming soon.
Prince Belofá | Production Assistant
Coming soon.
Silmara Baron | Production Assistant
Coming soon.
Soledad Maria | Institutional Coordination
Coming soon.
Valéria Silva | Mobilization and Care Analyst
Coming soon.
Victor Sousa | Innovation Manager
Coming soon.
Audit Committee
Coming soon.
Coming soon.
Coming soon.Advisory Board
Anderson Penha
Coming soon.
Daniela Scapin
Coming soon.
Cristiane Fontes
Coming soon.
Iara Pietricovsky
Coming soon.
Larissa Amorim
Coming soon.
Luis Massonetto
Coming soon.
Marcele Oliveira
Coming soon.
Pedro Hartung
Coming soon.
Roberto Vilela
Coming soon.
Tauá Pires
Coming soon.
Sanara Santos
Coming soon.
Members
Rodrigo Savazoni | Founding Partner
Coming soon.
Marília Guarita | Founding Partner
Coming soon.
Niva Silva | Methodology Advisor
Coming soon.
Victor Sousa | Innovation Manager
Coming soon.
Partnerships
Veja quem está construindo a Procomum
SPONSORS
PARTNERS
ACKNOWLEDGMENTS
Procomum 2016-2026. Some rights reserved.