Audience: Environmental 'Base'

Like many of you, the Lab team has been exploring how we can best support the climate movement at this critical moment, with nearly a trillion dollars on the table to reshape the climate and energy landscape following the passage of the Inflation Reduction Act (IRA),  Infrastructure Investment and Jobs Act (IIJA), and CHIPS & Science Act. Simultaneously, we know communities across the country continue to suffer from the impacts and fight build-out of the extractive, polluting fossil fuel industry – including many of my neighbors across the Southeast, calling on President Biden to oppose the Mountain Valley Pipeline.

When the Training Team was given the task of building out our Training for Impact Spring 2023 cohort, my wheels immediately started turning; my thoughts kept bringing me to my own experience as a brand new organizer in the climate justice space. Thinking about my own experience and how trainings, peer-to-peer learning, and relationship opportunities supported me in my journey as an organizer and an advocate, I was so excited to build out a program that encapsulated those key aspects with the Lab’s Training Team. Read on to learn how we built out the 2023 Training For Impact cohort! 

Read on for a summary of the big ideas and trends on our minds at the Lab as we reflect on everything that happened in 2022 and look forward to 2023.

I don’t know where to begin – there has been so much learning, joys, and incredible juicy training that have occurred in the last 6 months. I joined the lab in June 2022 as Training Manager, along with Gabby H., who came along as our Training Lead amidst many staff transitions. I was excited and nervous all at the same time. Let me first start off by saying that it can be so nerve racking moving into a new organization and hoping that you can accomplish all of your visions and hopes. I can say that being a program manager on the Lab staff has taught me so much and been a powerful experience. Let’s take a look into some of the incredible learnings that occurred over the course of 6 months from the Training Team.

This workshop on combating apathy and powerlessness for the RE-AMP Network’s current peer learning circle covered what social science is telling us about the root causes of apathy and ways to move people toward hope, and how to combat sentiments among supporters like “My actions don’t matter.”        

When new supporters sign up to learn more about an organization, what gets them motivated to start engaging with advocacy and taking actions? Should advocates first try to create a sense of community identity, or feed new supporters’ desire for immediate action and efficacy?
Sunrise Movement wanted to explore this question through their Welcome Series, which has traditionally culminated in a “Welcome Call” where new supporters learn more about the organization and meet other people new to Sunrise. Working with the Climate Advocacy Lab and The Movement Cooperative, they compared this to a new “Anytime Action” event where new supporters get immediate training on ways to take action.