Resource Type: Evaluation & Measuring Progress

For both those who are planning on climate deep canvassing, as well as those just curious about it, an all-star panel guides you through the ins and outs of designing, running, and evaluating a climate deep canvassing program, including a walkthrough of the entire deep canvassing design process; a haul of instructional materials, tipsheets, and sample scripts.

Being in the climate movement comes with a certain orientation around crisis – disruption is something we are familiar with. From IPCC reports declaring dire and urgent responses to disruptive tactics of resistance being in our movement’s DNA – we may feel endless urgency to fulfill our tactics, strategies, and missions. The Ayni Institute speaks of this as the “endless summer” and points to the inevitable burnout of attempting to sustain this high energy non-stop.
Reflecting on the last 10 years, it’s clear the climate movement has built many of the critical capacities* needed to win. This week’s newsletter focuses on strategic capacity in particular and how understanding and embracing the seasons of leadership and cycles of movements can strengthen it.

At the Lab, we are wrapping up field research projects with six great partner climate advocacy organizations. While I can’t wait to share what we’ve learned once they are complete, today I wanted to provide some of my reflections on best practices for field research I’ve learned from these tests and other projects. Think of these as extra dollops of advice on top of our core guidance on research and testing and Learning 101*.

You’ve probably heard a lot from us about evidence-based advocacy, but what are we talking about when we talk about “evidence?” Does it mean we privilege academic research that has withstood the rigor of peer review, or that we should raise up lessons learned through the hard work of organizing on the ground? Do we gather evidence from a bird’s-eye view of the public at large through polling, a detailed examination of a particular audience through interviewing, or an introspective analysis of how our own organizations and coalitions operate? The short answer is that we think all of it matters as long as the insights generated can help us be more effective, challenge our assumptions, and grow as a movement. This post examines how we think about evidence at the Lab and how we can break evidence down into the categories of Listening, Watching, Tinkering, and Reflecting*.