James is co-founder of the Change Agency and director of our Community Organising Fellowship.
Resources for activists and organizers
Joshua Kahn Russell’s great resource collection of learning resources, including some from the Energy Action Coalition and Rainforest Action Network.
Learning and mobilising for community development: A radical tradition of community-based education and training
‘Learning and Mobilising for Community Development’ introduces the reader to different ways of thinking about, and organising community-based education and training within different settings. Stories from the global south and north illustrate approaches to...
Active hope: how to face the mess we’re in without going crazy
Active Hope is about finding, and offering, our best response to the crisis of sustainability unfolding in our world. It offers tools that help us face the mess we’re in, as well as find and play our role in the collective transition, or Great Turning, to a...
Climate action: a campaign manual for greenhouse solutions
“The word academic is synonymous for irrelevant”, declared Saul Alinsky, the influential Chicago activist-educator. A notable exception to Alinsky’s rule is Mark Diesendorf, author of ‘Climate Action: A campaign manual for greenhouse...
Soul of a citizen: living with conviction in challenging times
“Each year in my Citizen Advocacy and Social Movements class, students are looking for reasons to believe change is possible, that activism is worth the effort, and that ‘ordinary people’ like themselves can make a difference. I give copies of Soul to every new...
Activist wisdom
Activist wisdom: practical knowledge and creative tension in social movements Sarah and Sean identify and explore eight themes that both define and catalyse Australian activism. Their potted history of social movement theory is accessible and informative. The...
Learning organisations: cultivating a culture of learning
Presentation exploring the ability of an organisation to gain insight and understanding from experience through experimentation, observation, analysis, and a willingness to examine successes and failures, and respond to that learning.
Mentorship and peer support
Simple institutional arrangements, like the three options outlined here, can make a huge difference to campaigners’ sense of support and their long-term sustainability.
What is strategy
An experiential exercise to clarify the difference between goals, tactics and strategy.
Maximise-minimise learning
A powerful method for engaging participants in a process of becoming responsible learners, identifying strategies for maximising learning, and encouraging personal self-reflection.
Meeting facilitation: the no magic method
Overview of the role of the facilitator and some ingredients for undertaking productive and effective meetings as recommended by Berit Lakey.
Photolanguage
An exercise to facilitate self-awareness, deepen engagement and relationships, stimulate creativity in personal expression, and connections between intellectual reflection and personal experience.
Sample Workshop Agenda: Team Building
A sample agenda for a whole day team-building workshop.
Stages In A Group’s Development
A workshop introducing participants to Bruce Tuckman’s ‘stages in group development’, facilitating participants’ reflection on their experiences of group development, and identifying and addressing challenges.
Rating scale: How burnout prone is your organisation?
A questionnaire for group members to spark reflection, dialogue and action