Resources - The Commons Social Change Library

Finding the Needle in the Haystack: Internet Research Tips

Quick tips and tools to improve your internet searching skills including using filters, truncation, phrase searching and hyphens.

two young women having a chat inside a building

Organizing: People, Power and Change – The One on One 1:1 Meeting

Introduction The 1:1 meeting is a tool to establish, maintain, and grow relationships in organizing. Each 1:1 meeting has four key pieces: Purpose Be up front in establishing why you are meeting in order to make sure you are both on the same page. If you plan to ask the person you’re meeting with to […]

a person holding a red microphone is interveiwing a person wearing a red jacket. You can see their upper torsos but not their heads.

Conducting Interviews for Articles, Research & More

This article provides tips on how to run effective interviews for articles, research projects and podcasts.

Front cover of a booklet. Illustration of birds eye view of people standing in a circle holding a parachute together. One person is looking up with their hands up in the air. The text reads a better world is paintable: how to make banners, stencils, street murals, parachute banners and more!

A Better World is Paintable: How to make banners, stencils, street murals, parachute banners, and more!

Tools, skills, and resources from 350.org to build capacity to run effective campaigns and movements to tackle the climate crisis.

Text: Wellbeing on the Campaign Trail. Image: A packet of crisps spills out against a navy blue background.

Campaign Wellbeing Bingo

A bingo sheet full of low barrier things folks can do to stay healthier and handle stress better when under pressure.

Build People Power and Capacity to run effective Campaigns and Movements to tackle the Climate Crisis

Tools, skills, and resources from 350.org to build capacity to run effective campaigns and movements to tackle the climate crisis.

an outdoor post plastered with stickers with the writing organize and money is nothing art is real

Organising: Start Here

Organising builds people power for change. Here is a list of resources to get you started including introductions, different approaches, manuals, tactics, videos and more.

screenshot of webinar front page that reads Race Class Narrative, Oct 2021. A black and white photo features a man with a child on his shoulders holding her arms out.

The Race Class Narrative: A race forward messaging framework to engage the base and persuade the middle

Watch a video on Race Class Narrative – an approach that weaves together economic empowerment, racial justice, and gender equity.

protestors on the street holding signs and banners. The big banner at the front reads Cosecha Igrito!par las licencias

Learn how Cosecha raised over $1 million for undocumented immigrants affected by the pandemic

Want to know how to run a large scale volunteer led phonebank? Learn from the Sunrise Movement and how they managed their teams.

Disinformation and 7 Common Forms of Information Disorder

Learn about disinformation, misinformation and mal-information and the 7 forms of information disorder from HiveMind.

Can NGOs and Social Movements be Authentic Allies?

Four things not for profit organisations can take into consideration to be authentic allies with social movements.

A mural outside the Bernard Shaw Pub in Portobello, Dublin depicting Savita Halappanavar and calling for a Yes vote in Ireland’s referendum on repealing the Eighth Amendment. The mural shows Savita's face surrounded by lots of stickers saying Vote Yes

How Powerful Conversations Won Abortion Rights in Ireland

Overturning the abortion ban in Ireland meant equipping people to share their stories and spark conversations with their friends and family.

butterfly on flower at sunset with quote by Gandhi "Be the wish you wish to see in the world"

10 Great Resources on Activist Wellbeing

Are you an activist experiencing stress or burnout? These articles, videos and tips will help you stay healthy and well while working to change the world.

Icons of a map of Australia with a group of protestors

The Characteristics, Activities and Goals of Australian Environmental Activist Groups

A close look at the Australian environmental movement to help build our understanding about environmental movements at the national scale.

icon of a group of people standing looking with the backs to the viewer in front of a big yellow circle. One is holding a red flag, another a poster and another a loudspeaker.

What Helps Motivate People to Take Action?

What helps motivate people to take action? Learn from this research from the University of Queensland that analysed the website communication of almost 500 Australian environmental groups.

A young woman stands in front of a seated group of people. She is wearing a green tshirt that reads 'We are a powerful force for nature'

Building Organising Leadership During Election Mobilisation

Max Smith, co-director of the Community Organising Fellowship, reviews the Tools for Radical Democracy guide to electoral organising, and draws out some key considerations for deciding whether or how to engage in elections.

Welcome to the Progress Capacity Building Hub

Australian Progress’ Capacity Building Hub supports small nonprofits and grassroots movements to survive the pandemic and thrive beyond it. This article provides a guide to the resources gathered in the CBH collection.

book cover with illustration of swirling leaves. Text reads World Protests A study of Key protest issues in the 21st century

New Study Reveals a World of Growing Protests

A recent study verifies an increase in the size and frequency of protests and paints a fascinating picture of the characteristics of protests around the world.

Blockaders sitting on the road with Aboriginal Australian flags and a large banner at the back that reads - Ngiyaningu Maran Yaliwunga Ngara-Li - Our ancestors are always watching.

What Will It Take for the Climate Movement to Win?

Nick Beuret discusses the strategies required to solve the climate crisis… he argues for a focus on movement building and direct action.

What’s New

See what’s new in the Commons Social Change Library – making activism smarter and stronger.

Archive

Read