Issue: Principles & Processes

As 2021 came to an end, I took some time to reflect on the year. I had many experiences from starting my new job as Training Manager to celebrating my best friend’s wedding. I would say one thing I have brought to this position is a lot of curiosity about what more is possible.
Prior to the Lab, I worked as an organizer at 350.org where I ran a number of trainings. One of these training programs focused on BIPOC climate organizers at the intersection of racial justice, affectionately known as The Climate League. My co-facilitator and I wanted to dig deeper with a small group of people over an extended period of time to evaluate what would be different about their organizing. Why is this important? That experience made me think deeper about what skills and capacities I believe are necessary to win. So in my new role at the Lab, I said to myself “Can this be done here at the Lab according to the specific time and conditions we are in?” to which my Capricorn brain said, “Absolutely! Anything is possible.” That seed of curiosity transformed into the Training for Impact 2021 Cohort.

A focus on individual actions can distract from the larger climate movement goal of system change. While many activists in the UK-based group Extinction Rebellion (XR) call for “system change,” what is missing is an understanding of what kind of system change is necessary—and how it might be achieved. XR activists still engage in personal pro-environmental behaviors, even though their political goals are aimed at systemic change, and the group continues to argue that blaming and shaming individuals is counterproductive. This article argues that accusations of hypocrisy (based on their personal choices of climate movement activists) are used to discredit, divide, and undermine the climate movement—and those accusations by opponents work, to some degree.

This booklet aims to give people thinking about going to or organizing a protest information about best practices for interacting with law enforcement in-the-moment. Further, it can also help as advance information to consider in order to assess risk and prepare for possible police encounters. When you are protesting or having any interaction with law enforcement, asserting your rights does not usually mean that the police will respect your rights or change how they are treating you. However, by using your rights (by saying them out loud, as this booklet will teach you to do), you can make it harder for police to use your own statements or anything found on you during a search as evidence against you during a trial. Using this information could help your case later in court and, importantly, can help you protect your fellow activists.

These trainings help organizations to get the most out of their online channels, by building a community and moving people to action. Nonprofit consulting group Aspiration has posted online trainings for groups working for social justice, to help groups with social media, communications, email newsletters, and online advocacy. Trainings include slides and recorded webinar videos. Some notable trainings include “Creating a Social Media Policy,” Tracking Online Analytics,” “Enewsletters for fundraising,” and “Building Online Advocates.”