In Portugal, the community movement of museums developed mainly after the establishment of democracy in 1974. Initially, it was grounded in the so-called “Ecomuseum”. The movement was then extended to the domain of representation and development of villages and regions with their own identity, in rural areas and in urban industrial belts. They have contributed to the fight against isolation and have served to increase the self-esteem of the inhabitants who are directly involved in museum activities, including the process of choosing collections and in programming events. We could conclude that in the Portuguese case a community museum is not always a museum made by a community for the community, but a museum that contributes to the social development of the communities where it is based.