Broaden the political coordinates of what is possible and what is achievable: relationships between popular initiatives and public institutions.

In the Basque Country, popular movement and local community initiatives have precipitated interesting changes in the relationships and the form in which dialogue is conducted between social movements, public administrations and politicians. Based on two of these initiatives, the objective of this paper is to analyze alternative models of relationship between public administration and social movement networks and initiatives. The paper also draws attention to contributions that the university and social sciences can make in terms of both facilitating the internal strengthening of community initiatives and increasing their legitimacy with respect to public administration and other community agents. To this end, we highlight the epistemological importance of studying and increasing the visibility of instances political creativity. These initiatives make important social contributions including the community management of disused spaces; free training, leisure and culture activities; places for rehearsal and experimentation; barter, recycling and responsible consumption and material and emotional support for excluded people. However, they also facilitate the democratization of political institutions, expanding the horizon of what is understood as possible and achievable. After contextualizing and briefly presenting the two case studies, we conclude that a careful dialogue between popular initiatives and public administrations facilitates a strengthening of those spaces and of grassroots participatory networks of political participation. These networks contribute to the coexistence of diverse groups and identities; to social cohesion and community articulation; to social and institutional transformation; and to the de-commodification and de-bureaucratization of spaces for the exercise of civil rights, and for the self-managed satisfaction of social and cultural needs.