Graduates of our Community Organising Fellowship played key leadership roles in the People’s Climate March in November. Around the world, three-quarters of a million people marched to encourage their leaders to take strong commitments to Paris. Marches were held in 50 cities and towns right around Australia. Their leadership speaks volumes about the impact of…
News & Updates
Featured News
September 13, 2015
Campaign Strategy Guide: ‘How to’ guides for organisers and activist educators
The Campaign Strategy Guide is the first instalment of the People Power Manual, a resource created for activist educators and facilitators. Campaign strategy needn’t be mystifying, lonely or stressful. Social movements become more powerful as more people are equipped to analyse their political context, consider paths to change and mindfully plan tactics. The Campaign Strategy Guide…
October 6, 2014
Community Organising graduate profile: Taegen Edwards
Taegen is a graduate of the 2014 Fellowship program and is currently a Community Organising Manager with Solar Citizens. Why are you passionate about Community Organising? Why is organising an important part of the solution in your community? A big part of the reason I love my job as an organiser at Solar Citizens is the people…
July 14, 2014
Grassroots action | Jane Stabb on sharing campaign skills in her community
At Environment Victoria, we are creating a structure to support local volunteer groups in our target areas with the objective of building and supporting a network of connected, engaged, and empowered community members who campaign actively to get great environment protections. While I was at the third workshop of the Community Organising Fellowship, I was…
July 14, 2014
Making public support visible: Glenn Walker on organisational renewal
The iconic Franklin River campaign – the cornerstone of our foundational story at the Wilderness Society – enlivened a budding movement and inspired a generation. It demonstrated that when passionate, committed people get organised and work together even the most entrenched power can yield. Over 30 years on from the historic High Court decision to…
Recent News
General News
June 21, 2015
Thank you, Randy
Since the mid 1990s, Randy Stoecker has created and shared the awesome Comm-Org list-serve. At a time when e-groups were new and (in Australia, at least), sharing resources about community organising was radical pioneering work, Randy collated, curated and disseminated a growing collection of case studies, a calendar of workshops and conferences, and research papers written by and for…
Fellowship
May 11, 2015
Community Organising Fellowship update
We’ve just returned from the second workshop in this year’s Fellowship. We gathered at Commonground where campaigners and organisers have strategised and connected for more than 20 years. Our key themes were cultural awareness, diversity and privilege, corporate campaigning, electoral organising and facilitation. Participants’ highlights included: There was a strong sense of a safe space to discuss…
Fellowship
April 8, 2015
Community Organising graduate profile: Mike Pulsford
Michael Pulsford (centre) is a graduate of the 2014 Fellowship program and is currently a community organiser with the Australian Conservation Foundation. Why is community organising an important part of the solution in my community? Climate change, in 2015, is a problem of power: the climate movement has less power than we need to win what we…
Fellowship
April 7, 2015
Community Organising graduate profile: Emma Wasson
Emma Wasson (centre) is a graduate of the 2014 Fellowship program and is currently Community Organising with The Wilderness Society. Why is community organising an important part of the solution in my community? A movement is only as strong as the people and the connections within it. Community organising is an important part of building cohesion in…
Fellowship
March 12, 2015
Community Organising Graduate Profile: Millie Telford
Millie Telford (at left in this photo) is a graduate of the 2014 Fellowship program and is currently the Director of the Seed Indigenous Youth Climate Network. Why is community organising an important part of the solution in my community? People are our most valuable resource as a movement. I truly believe that if we can organise ourselves…
General News
February 16, 2015
What do community organisers DO?
Organisers are sometimes described as ‘Jack of all trades’. It can be a complex and demanding role. To make sense of the role, the Change Agency synthesised recent position descriptions developed by social movement groups. We then cross-referenced that with education and training programs to identify eleven key attributes and skills associated with powerful organising work:…
General News
February 16, 2015
Education or training? What’s the difference and why does it matter?
Training prepares people to do simple tasks reliably. It’s generally very practical and focuses on the competent completion of tasks. Education develops skills and knowledge. It involves forming and communicating ideas, developing and challenging understandings and learning to conceptualise and solve problems. Community organising and campaigning are not basic skills or competencies that can be learnt through…
Fellowship
February 11, 2015
Community organising graduate profile: Ellen Roberts
Ellen is a graduate of the 2014 Fellowship program and is currently a coordinator with the Mackay Conservation Group. Why are you passionate about Community Organising? Why is organising an important part of the solution in your community? Central Queensland has been feeling the impacts of coal and coal seam gas for decades, with thousands of…
General News
February 11, 2015
Education and social action… inexplicably intertwined
‘Education without social action is a one-sided value because it has no true power potential. Social action without education is a weak expression of pure energy. Deeds uninformed by educated thought can take false directions. When we go into action and confront our adversaries, we must be armed with knowledge as they. Our policies should…
Fellowship
January 20, 2015
Community organising graduate profile: Jaime Yallup Farrant
Jaime is a graduate of the 2014 Fellowship program and is a crowd funded Climate Campaigner in Perth WA and the coordinator of 350 Perth. Why are you passionate about Community Organising? Why is organising an important part of the solution in your community? Only with organised people can we defeat organised money. It sounds like a…
People Power Manual
People Power Manual
‘How to’ guides for campaigners, organisers and activist educators.
People Power Manual: Community Organising Guide
The Community Organising Guide is a unique resource for campaigners, community leaders and activist educators. It’s a...