The successful Irish anti-fracking struggle offers key insights on community power building for anti-extraction movements all over the world. In 2017, community activists in Ireland mobilized a grassroots movement that forced the state to revoke fracking company Tamboran’s license and ban fracking. The first step towards defeating Tamboran in Ireland was building a movement rooted in the local community. Out of this experience, five key “rooting strategies” for local organizing emerged — showing how the resistance developed a strong social license and built community power. First, build from and on relationships. Second, foster ‘two-way’ community engagement. Third, celebrate community. Fourth, connect to culture. Fifth, build networks of solidarity. Four key political strategies include: find strategic framings; demonstrate resistance; engage politicians before regulators; focus on the parliament.

Black authors have told stories of the origins and consequences of environmental injustices, given us the richest and most comprehensive collection of poems about nature, and reimagined the future. The Solutions Project is excited to share recommendations to add to your reading list in February and all of the other months of the year. Readings include “The Intersectional Environmentalist” by Leah Thomas, “Black Joy: Stories of Resistance, Resilience, and Restoration” by Tracey Micha’el Lewis-Giggetts, “Becoming Abolitionists” by Derecka Purnell, “An Abolitionist’s Handbook” by Patrisse Cullors, and “Madam C.J. Walker’s Gospel of Giving” by Tyrone McKinley Freeman.

Successfully meeting with policymakers requires a few key steps. The group trying to meet with their representative must select a priority issue (or issues), recruit the correct people (and a lot of them) to attend the meeting, properly schedule the meeting ahead of time, prepare the advocates in the room, and follow up with the representative’s office after the meeting. This webinar details all of these ingredients.

The North Star State has a new North Star: 100 percent clean electricity by 2040. Minnesota joined 10 other states, along with the District of Columbia and Puerto Rico, in creating laws that require a transition to 100 percent carbon-free electricity—highlighting a trend of state-level action to act on climate, create local jobs, lower energy costs, and reduce deadly pollution. MN Representative Jamie Long, Majority Leader of the Minnesota House, and advocacy group Fresh Energy executive director Michael Noble played key roles in making 100 percent clean electricity the law of the land in the state. This resource includes an interview with them about the process leading to this new Minnesota policy. A big coalition of interest groups supportive of this policy was necessary for its passage. The bill passed full Democratic support and zero Republican support. The coalition included small business, families, family-supporting jobs and labor and trade unions, environmental justice groups, environmental groups, and traditional advocates for renewable energy.

Building on the long legacy of activist entertainers, here are five ways movements for justice and famous supporters can partner to promote change. First, celebrities and movements can make better political endorsements together: they can look to social justice organizations for guidance as to which candidates have listened to them and committed to processes to govern in the best interest of their communities. Second, celebrities can amplify trigger events, which can draw people with no prior interest or experience in politics into mass protests. Third, celebrities can boost organizing campaigns, especially at pivotal campaign junctures. Fourth, celebrities can expand the Overton window by lending their support to causes and movements that exist outside of current norms, and thereby work to expand the bounds of public acceptance. Fifth, they can fuel boycotts by putting extra pressure on corporations.

New research from the Social Change Lab offers key insights into the three main factors that lead to protest wins. First, nonviolent tactics are more likely to lead to successful outcomes relative to violent outcomes—experts consulted were reasonably confident that violence is a less effective approach and the literature supported their view. Second, size of protests is really key, with better-attended protests meaning a higher chance of policy changes and other desired outcomes. Third, favorable sociopolitical context like pre-existing public opinion, the response of the media, whether there are elites (like politicians or celebrities) who support the cause, as well as blind luck are helpful for facilitating successful political outcomes.

This free course is designed to help grassroots groups to understand the basics of public communications for building a convincing, winning campaign. It can support groups looking for skills on crafting targeted messaging and framing to move people towards social change. You might want to campaign to fight your opponents, convince new audiences, or mobilize audiences that already support your cause. Each of these objectives requires specific communication strategies. The course includes defining public campaigning, communications basics, campaign objectives (neutralizing, informing, persuading and mobilizing), reaching your target group and storytelling. This takes approximately 5 hours to review. Deep dive sections may add 3-4 more hours. Group discussion time may vary.

This free course is designed to help grassroots groups understand the basics of powerful storytelling to change hearts and minds and specifically to win over “moveable middle” audiences. It can support groups looking for skills on how to structure a story and how to connect a narrative to the emotions, values and life lessons for a group’s target audience. The course includes: the importance of story, how stories are structured, relatability of stories, identifying key story elements (conflict, choice, life lessons), choosing the right messenger, writing a story and delivering your story. The minimum expected learning time is 1 hour. An adequate review that includes engaging in the deep dive sections is expected to take approximately 2 hours. Group discussion time may vary.

The Innovation Hub is here to empower data learning and strategy among environmental organizations. The Partnership project works directly with data strategists and communications teams at partner organizations to assess common needs and opportunities that can be met with data, and designs original research and experiments, pilot new methods and data tools, and highlight innovative projects. This website share what is being learned through case studies and playbooks, webinars and meetups, newsletters. Workstreams include “extreme weather insights and targeting,” “GOTV and civic engagement,” “membership match resources,” “more insights and data.”

The Green New Deal Resource Hub continually gathers information to support local efforts and elevate bold solutions for transformative climate justice. As Green New Deal momentum builds across the globe, information sharing and bridge-building are crucial to creating long-term, widespread success. The Hub has begun to map out which countries, regions, states, and cities have launched GND efforts. We hope mapping efforts will enable regional connectivity and multi-scaler collaboration. Around the country, a movement is building to make the 2020s the “Decade of the Green New Deal”. Rising intersectional crises of economic inequality, racial injustice, and the climate emergency necessitate a mobilization on every level. We support coalitions across the country in the once-in-a-generation fight against climate change while creating good paying jobs, dismantling unjust institutional practices, and building community power.