[Community participation: COVID-19 learning for new crises. SESPAS Report 2022]

Community participation has been put as secondary due to the management of the COVID-19 pandemic. This is despite the evidence of its importance in relation to equity and health promotion. Even so, there have been a number of experiences of community participation that can give us clues towards how to confront potential future emergencies focusing on health promotion and social determinants. The main aim of this article is reflecting critically on the role of community participation during the pandemic as well as extracting a number of ideas which could be useful and ensure a better management of a future crisis. They arise from evidence and experiences undertaken in Spain. In order to do so, it is key to build and maintain community networks whilst identifying common goals and the role that different community agents must play, adapting to different contexts and participatory assessments. Community action cannot be improvised: it demands time, resources and specific political willingness to make it sustainable and efficient.