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 was 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 equips…
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
Featured
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…
Fellowship
September 8, 2014
Circles of commitment
Mike Pulsford’s article outlines a model for thinking about the different levels of engagement of people involved in a campaign; what kinds of things people at each level can do, and what support they need to do those things; and how people can move from one level to another, aka a ‘ladder of engagement’. It also…
Featured
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…
Featured
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…
Featured
July 8, 2014
Winter activist reading
What makes people tick? The three hidden worlds of settlers, prospectors and pioneers Chris Rose is well known to campaigners and strategists for his brilliant website and manual How to Win Campaigns. With What makes people tick?, Chris introduces the reader to settlers, prospectors and pioneers. Companies and campaigners, from Greenpeace to Shell, from the…
Featured
July 8, 2014
Circles of commitment, ladders of engagement
[Emma Wasson reflects:] The Wilderness Society is using an adaptation of the ‘Circles of Commitment’ framework adapted from Rick Warren’s “The Purpose Driven Church” to develop a conceptual framework to measure the activity and engagement of individuals in our organisation. The Wilderness Society speak of ‘Circles of Engagement’ (rather than ‘Circles of Commitment’). We found…
General News
June 30, 2014
Understanding the success at Bentley
The six pillars of the Northern Rivers social movement against unconventional gas as evident in the Bentley blockade Based on an interview with Lock the Gate National Chair, Simon Clough by Ken McLeod, 14 June 2014 Social movements promote participatory democracy. They are a grassroots response when the existing democratic system fails to respond to…
Fellowship
May 19, 2014
Community organising program: building power
We’re mid-way through the first cycle of our Community Organising Fellowship. The cohort of 25 organisers gathered in Pittwater (Sydney) in late February 2014 for our first workshop. During the 10 day residential workshop, we learnt a lot about each other and ourselves, shared ideas, tools and resources, and sharpened our campaign strategies. This short video…
Featured
May 19, 2014
Build your own campaigners toolkit
Our new website allows activists and organisers to create your own tailored collection of resources. First, select from 72 tags to specify your topic of interest. Perhaps you’re looking for resources on ‘lobbying’ or ‘communication’ in the context of a campaign that’s about the ‘environment’ or ‘peace’. Or you might be looking for a ‘case…
Fellowship
April 23, 2014
Community Organising Fellowship workshop #2
We’re just back from Workshop #2 of the Community Organising Fellowship where our cohort enjoyed a fantastic line up of guest facilitators and presenters. On the first day we dived into two parallel full day sessions, the first on effective organising around an election led by Mark Wakeham, Acting Executive Director at Environment Victoria who…
People Power Manual
People Power Manual
‘How to’ guides for campaigners, organisers and activist educators.
Official Channels
Official channels are things like grievance procedures, ombudsmen and courts. They are supposed to resolve problems and...