At the end of June, Collaboration for Change (CfC) invited activists from across the North West to participate in the Nurturing the Groundswell workshop. The workshop was organised as part of The Gathering, an all-Ireland network of environmental activists who were holding their annual meeting at The Playtrail in Derry as part of the Artitude Festival (https://www.derryplayhouse.co.uk/event/the-gathering). The workshop was designed and led by Kevin Flanagan, and coordinated by Marian Farrell from Zero Waste North West. We are very thankful to The Greenpeace Movement Fund for supporting the development of this workshop.
Collaboration for Change (CfC) is a pan-Ireland network which enables grassroots activists to work together under a shared vision for a caring and resilient world that is good for people and planet. To this end, CfC opens spaces for mutual support, shared learning and collaborative action. We do this by organising events and workshops that provide opportunities for networking and relationship building among activists and campaigns. We provide tools to enable participatory budgeting. We visualise actors and organisations sharing a sense of working together for progressive social change when they sign the Declaration for Common Good and join the CfC Map.
The Nurturing the Groundswell workshop was designed to build upon and complement the ongoing work of Collaboration for Change. It was also an opportunity to explore and develop different workshop formats for fostering dialogue and relationship building among activists. While everyone in attendance shared a commitment to social change, the workshop was designed to surface differences in approaches and to create space for voicing both criticism and appreciation of these differences as parts of a diverse ecology of movements and actors working for social change.
The 2-hour workshop was divided into three parts. A warm-up introductory exercise Mapping Social Change, an exploration of different and sometimes conflicting Routes to Change that activists pursue, surfacing the challenges they face, and finally an appreciative exercise inviting Voices from the Future to speak to us in our present.
Since 2019, Collaboration for Change have supported the development of the Community Economies Mapping Project. This digital map is a useful directory, and a tool for making visible and learning about some of the many diverse networks, organisations, campaigns, projects and activists working for social change on the island of Ireland. However, CfC also recognise the importance of creating spaces to nurture relationships among those with shared values and commitments to progressive social change. The Nurturing the Groundswell workshop was developed with this in mind. After the social isolation of the Covid-19 pandemic many of us have felt the need to escape from Zoom and meet in person.
The workshop began with an introduction to The Gathering by Dean Blackwood and Mary McGuiggan, followed by an introduction to Collaboration for Change by Bridget Meehan. Participants were also invited to sign the Declaration for the Common Good and join the CfC online map.
After brief introductions from the organisers, we did a warm-up with all participants that included a round of introductions from participants and the mapping exercise. On sheets of paper, participants wrote the name of their organisation or campaign, and a short description of their vision for the future. After introductions, sheets were posted on the wall so that everyone could get a shared sense of who was in attendance and what kinds of social change projects they were engaged in. The images above are from the mapping exercise.
The following organisations, groups, campaigns were mentioned –
Zero Waste North West* (ZWNW), Friends of the Earth*, Northern Mutual Bank Campaign*, Participatory Budgeting Works*. Communities Against the Injustice of Mining (CAIM), Collaboration For Change (CFC), Meitheal Trust, ComUniversity, Donegal and More, Epilogues Women, Forum for Ageing Better, Living Wage NI, No One is Illegal (Toronto), North West Baps (Breastfeeding and Perinatal Support), Participatory Budgeting Works*, Playhouse Garden Project, Rights of Nature, Rostrevor Action – Respecting the Environment (RARE), Rural Integrity, Save Inis Eoghain, Seed it Union, The Gathering, The Pils Project.
The word cloud below reflects some of the keywords and concerns that featured in participants visions for the future.
Routes to Change
The second part of the workshop was designed to explore the different routes to change that activists engage in. Motivations for getting involved in activism and projects for social change can vary greatly. Different life experiences inform different approaches and thinking about how goals of social change can best be achieved. In this exercise participants were invited to surface those differences and to explore them in a critical and constructive manner.
Note: Credit where credit is due, this was modelled on an exercise Kevin took part in during the ULEX Ecology of Social Movements course in November 2022. The exercise is loosely based on the work of Erik Olin Wright.
The workshop space was divided into three, with each dedicated to a different social change strategy. Participants moved towards the strategy that most closely described their approach to social change. After choosing, participants were given 10 minutes to discuss and critically consider –
-
- What are the limitations of the other groups’ approaches for achieving social change?
-
- What kinds of challenges or conflicts do you think the other groups could face over the next 10 years?
After 10 minutes the groups came back together to share their reflections with the other groups. Here you can find descriptions of the different strategies as well as criticisms and limitations identified in the group discussions.
Change from Within (Symbiotic), was for those who dedicate much of their energy to working with and within established institutions. For example, through direct engagement with or participation in political parties as well as political and public institutions, campaigning for changes in public policy or the law. These activists see possibilities for social change coming from working with, rather than against the system.
Summary of responses: Limitations and challenges of working within the system
-
- Systems are averse to change, and focused on the short-term.
-
- Change takes a long time. Changes that are achieved are incremental and too slow to address the scale of the challenges.
-
- Change takes a long time. Changes that are achieved are incremental and too slow to address the scale of the challenges.
-
- Drains energy, feels like hitting a brick wall. It can be isolating and lead to burnout.
-
- The master’s tools will never dismantle the master’s house.
-
- Working within the system reinforces the status quo.
-
- The scope for change to be limited by the rules of the institution/system. People working within them can internalise their norms and ideology, creating additional barriers to change.
-
- Working with and within the system often means working for the system. People can come to depend on the system for their livelihoods and careers. Speaking out or challenging the system can put a person at risk of losing their job.
-
- People working within the system are in an uneven playing field. They can be excluded by those in power. They can be ignored and blocked, sometimes tactically, by hostile administrators and officials.
-
- Power adapts, and systems can change rules/laws before they change for the benefit of all + nature.
-
- Disconnected from community.
Disruption and Direct Action (Rupture), was for activists whose activities and campaigns are organised as acts of resistance to systems of state and corporate power that act indiscriminately and sometimes violently impose themselves on what are often marginalised communities. Activists involved in this kind of work are usually sceptical about the possibilities of change from within, and consider disruption and direct action as critical forms of resistance.
Summary of responses: limitations and challenges to disruption and direct action
-
- Activists involved in direct actions are often painted negatively as trouble-makers.
-
- They can be criminalised, there are dangers and risks of arrest.
-
- Participation in these kinds of actions is not possible for many people. Such as those with young families or persons who depend on them for care.
-
- There are risks that actions can be ego-driven, righteousness can put people off, fragment and discredit movements.
-
- This kind of activism can be isolating, and many experience burnout.
-
- What are you for? What comes next? What’s the vision?
-
- Spend a lot of energy attacking the system, when energy could be spent on other actions, such as building alternatives.
Build Alternatives, was for activists who dedicate themselves to projects intended to model or put into practice different kinds of social and ecological relations they wish to see in the world. These projects often aim to empower communities to make change locally, creating inclusive and democratic spaces for participation. Some examples of these community led projects include, upcycling and recycling, community currencies and time banks, local food projects such as community gardens and permaculture projects. This can also include cooperative and solidarity economy initiatives, non-profits and social enterprises.
Summary of responses: The limitations and challenges to building alternatives
-
- It will never work, or will be insufficient to address the scale of the change that is needed, just a ‘sticky plaster’ on a gaping wound.
-
- At the same time, calls for radical change can be perceived as too ‘out there’ for the mainstream, and this can lead to isolation and difficulties in building a platform for their message.
-
- Projects often lack capacity and resources. To the extent that they depend on funding, public or otherwise, they can be led to adapt their rhetoric and ambitions to align with funders’ visions. When they don’t, they risk having resources withdrawn. In this way, projects risk being de-radicalised or co-opted by the dominant system.
Voices from the Future
For the final round, participants were asked to participate in an appreciative role-play exercise. They were asked to embody a voice from the future. For example, they could be a human or non-human voice, a child or older person, an animal, plant or even a place, a river, forest or mountain.
The object of the exercise was to imagine what this voice from the future might say to us in the present, how might that voice express appreciation for our commitment and courage, for staying with the trouble and the struggle for change.
The voice from the future might –
-
- Tell them how they worked together to overcome the challenges.
-
- Tell them how they found allies and friends along the way.
-
- Tell them a story of ‘What makes good allies’
Summary
For one of the groups, it was the voice of a young adult reflecting on a visit environmental activists made to his school, and how their knowledge of environmental issues
inspired him and other students to achieve a green eco-flag for the school. This gave him and others hope and motivated them to work for change in their community.
The other two groups invited the voice of nature to speak to the present. People 10 years from now have returned home (abhaile arís), they remember and recognise that the waters of the River Foyle (Abhainn an Fheabhail) give life and they are rediscovering that they are a part of nature. The river as the voice of nature spoke and thanked those present for taking action, for their solidarity and activism. “We spoke for the river because we heard its voice”. The movement that started in Derry spread and became a catalyst for a wider shift in consciousness in which regenerative, eco-systemic and life sustaining perspectives are embraced as the norm.
Conclusions and Next Steps
In review, it is clear that there were strong opinions and differences, these were mostly informed by practical experience of working and organising for social change. However, having a space to discuss those differences openly, creates opportunities to address them, and through those conversations we also found many commonalities.
All groups face structural challenges, such as resistance within institutions (Change from within), criminalisation (Direct Action), lack of resources (Building Alternatives). Connecting and communicating with communities in ways that widen participation beyond the activist groups, and building inclusive movements, is also a concern. Finally, all groups recognise that working for social change can often be isolating, and activists can experience burnout. A possible next step would be to go explore in more depth the tools and practices that activists use to address these challenges.
There was also a great deal of experience and wisdom in the room. This informed a strong shared vision and commitment to creating a future where care for people and planet are at the heart of how society is organised. Part of the shift in consciousness that activists spoke of included a recognition of a deep connection between care for nature and care for each other, as activists, as people, and the importance of recovering the understanding that as living beings we are part of the natural world and not separate from it.
Deepening the conversation around this vision, and the practicalities of what steps are needed to realise it, over the next 5 to 10 years would also be worthwhile.
Personal note from workshop facilitator , Kevin Flanagan: While 2 hours for a workshop might seem like a lot of time, it really felt like we were just getting started. I have been deeply inspired and learned a lot from everyone I met in Derry, and I thank you all for taking part in the workshop. I look forward to the time when our paths will cross again.
Kind Regards,
Kevin Flanagan.
