Making change is a collective endeavour that can bring many challenges! One of the biggest stumbling blocks can be the group itself: passionate individuals trying to work together. These resources will help you set a group up well, tune it up if it already exists, make decisions together, navigate conflict, and develop skills to be an effective participant and facilitator.
Tips on how to get started with online training and facilitation for remote meetings and trainings. e.g. how to read a group and increase engaging including via web cameras, text chat and shared documents.
Online meetings can be a lot of fun! Here are a few ideas to make your meetings exciting, educational, and effective from Daniel Hunter, 350.org.
A list of resources about decentralised organising collated and shared by Richard D. Bartlett finding lessons across diverse contexts, from social movements to formal workplaces.
George Lakey shares a ‘recipe’ on what it takes to create a thriving direct action group – wisdom built up over many years from trial and error.
How-to guide on networked coalitions/campaigns. Harness the power of networks to develop more agile, dynamic and distributed campaigning coalitions.
Learn from groups that have remote teams and have developed ways to support them at a distance whilst maintaining a sense of purpose and togetherness.
When social change campaigns experience setbacks it’s understandable this can lead to difficulties in activist groups. Here are some tips and further resources for holding groups together in hard times.
Today, a single email can launch a worldwide movement. But as sociologist Zeynep Tufekci suggests, even though online activism is easy to grow, it often doesn’t last. Why? She compares modern movements — Gezi, Ukraine, Hong Kong — to the civil rights movement of the 1960s, and uncovers a surprising benefit of organizing protest movements the way it happened before Twitter.
Australian Progress has prepared this 40-point summary of Pastor Rick Warren’s bestselling book The Purpose Driven Church. The resource is based on Rick Warren’s experience of growing his church, Saddleback, from scratch to 20,000 members attending every week. Saddleback is now the eighth biggest church in the United States.
This tip sheet has been written to help you and your group work well together and achieve your objectives and highlights some group habits and actions that resilient community groups have relied on: effective meetings with an agreed agenda; clearly-defined roles; mindful decision-making; accountability; and inclusiveness.
Men frequently participate more than women in meetings, forums and other events. This article outlines practical steps facilitators and participants can take to ensure women are heard.
Productive meetings allow an organization to move forward, keep members engaged and give them a sense of empowerment and efficacy. There are five aspects of structure and interpersonal dynamics we must pay special attention to if we want our meetings to be truly productive: Right People; Right Container; Right Process; Right Facilitation; Right Agenda.
Every campaign is a learning opportunity. Make the most of this by planning for the post-campaign period and setting up debriefs. Here are some tips for campaigners and facilitators.
Resources for inducting new volunteers into a peacebuilding community project. Includes insights into how one voluntary group operated, consensus decision making, and internal conflict resolution processes.
Ben Knight presented at Progress 2015 about the power of unleashing collective intelligence through better technology. He provides a short introduction to the Loomio platform for discussion and decision-making.
Group morale is a key contributor to the success of a group, increasing cohesion, reducing burnout and preventing activist turnover. Build team relationships; resolve conflicts and improve communication; and celebrate success.
This handbook is a resource for trainers focused on community safety and peacekeeping. It includes training resources for practical ways to intervene in violence, to transform conflict and to build peace. Many parts of this manual may be translatable to other contexts.
This manual aims to contribute to the body of practical on nonviolence training, and support the work of people working to increase the power and effectiveness of grassroots social movements. While it is a method for change accessible to all, to succeed, nonviolence requires organisation, discipline, persistence in the face of repression and strategic application.
This handbook is a handy and unique resource for activists and community workers engaged in work for peace at a community level throughout Australia. It includes practical ways to intervene in violence, to transform conflict and to build peace.
Strategic questioning is the skill of asking the questions that will make a difference. It is a powerful tool for personal and social change which helps people discover their own strategies and ideas for change. Strategic questioning can be valuable in campaign strategy, group consultation processes, one-to-one organising conversations, coaching and many other contexts.