Issue: Lab-sponsored Research

Tribal communities, commercial fishermen, and conservation groups in Alaska are celebrating a recent EPA announcement outlining new protections for the Bristol Bay Watershed – protections that could (finally) end the decades-long fight to stop Pebble Mine. Alannah Hurley, Executive Director of the United Tribes of Bristol Bay (UTBB), reflected, “As stewards of these lands and waters since time immemorial, our people welcome this step towards permanent protections for our waters and way of life… We appreciate EPA’s efforts to address the threat Pebble poses to our lands, waters and way of life in Bristol Bay, and hope to see the agency finalize strong protections this year.” (Please consider standing in solidarity with UTBB by submitting your own public comment to the EPA!)
In response to this growing challenge, Alaska Conservation Foundation (ACF) reached out to the Lab earlier this year for support. Specifically, ACF was eager to explore the role of narrative, both as a tool wielded by the opposition (mining industry and pro-mining decision-makers) to push the necessity and “inevitably” of unchecked mining expansion and as a tool for advocates statewide to put forward an alternate vision for prosperity, sustainability, and self-determination through the coming energy transition. Read on for key learnings and insights from the work we did together!

While adding injustice messaging did not consistently improve performance over their existing messaging (which employs shared identity and efficacy elements) for republicEn’s conservative audience, research revealed several promising techniques for how best to optimize injustice messaging for conservatives going forward (such as by generating anger and emphasizing unfairly distribute health impacts).
 

Emphasizing a shared identity improved engagement with social media advertising among Illinois farmers, and may have doubled action taking, compared to standard messaging. Social scientists have developed a model for social movement participation known as the Social Identity Model of Collective Action (SIMCA). This model suggests that shared identity is one of the key elements motivating people to participate in collective action. Testing of Facebook ads targeted at Illinois farmers found those emphasizing shared identity had a higher click through rate, lower cost per click, and may have had a higher action taking rate compared to ads that did not emphasize shared identity as strongly.

This is a revolutionary dual-tool for frontline organizers who wish to achieve greater effectiveness by facing potential failures head-on. Forget the old concept of movement “wins” or “losses,” this podcast and guide-booklet are an invitation to rethink our relationship with the definition of failure when working to create social change. Learn from the L’eau Est La Vie resistance camp leadership and their epic, yet “unsuccessful,” campaign to stop the Bayou Bridge pipeline. Determine powerful leverage points within your struggle. Listen to the veteran frontline water and land protectors, get inspired, and then prepare to follow the additional step-by-step printed guide-booklet. Learn how to design your own plan for artful and effective failing, and also find out the one way that you will most certainly fail when working to stop social and environmental injustices.

With the threats from telecom carriers to restrict broadcast and peer-to-peer texting, advocates may need to pivot to alternative modes of contact to reach and engage supporters. Sunrise Movement partnered with the Climate Advocacy Lab and The Movement Cooperative to test a relatively new technology as a potential replacement for text messages: ringless voicemail messages (a.k.a. voicemail drops). This approach allows senders to “drop” a voicemail into a recipient’s phone without registering as an incoming call, allowing for some of the same benefits of texting (asynchronous communication, notification on phone, etc.) but outside of the purview of carriers.

“Young people don’t need a degree to fight for the future.” These words were spoken by Mishka Banuri, a young climate activist from Utah. This is the sentiment echoed by young people all across, not only the country, but the world. Alongside this statement, we also claim that young people don’t need a paid job in a nonprofit organization nor credibility or professionality to change the world and restore our future.