Browse Chapters Close Home Contributors Content Filter Search Results Introduction Section 1: System Chapter 1: We live in systems Chapter 2: The simplicity of complexity Chapter 3: Levels are levers Chapter 4: Autonomy is myth Section 2: Equilibrium Chapter 5: Systems Do Not Die Chapter 6: Relationships Are Power Chapter 7: Solidarity is a verb Chapter 8: Force begets resistance Chapter 9: Loops can be unlocked Section 3: Navigation Chapter 10: Narrative is water Chapter 11: Needs are motives Chapter 12: Communities are currents Chapter 13: The messenger is the message Chapter 14: Values are bedrock Chapter 15: Decisions are learned Chapter 16: Emotion is oxygen Section 4: Storms Chapter 17: Storms are stories Chapter 18: Flexibility is perseverance Chapter 19: Foresight is 20:20 Chapter 20: Wrestling with trolls Chapter 21: Change is constant Section 5: Energy Chapter 22: Reflection is action Chapter 23: Truth is human shaped Chapter 24: Seeds are fruit Chapter 25: Endings are beginnings Conclusion Uncommon Sense A systems-based strategic communications handbook for changing the world. This resource is designed for people working for social, environmental, or economic justice at local, national, or international levels. If you are someone who is seeking fresh insights to understand obstacles to change and find better solutions to accelerate change-making, then you have come to the right place. There’s no one right way to use it. Choose your own path... Read in order Start with the introduction and move chapter by chapter Start Here Browse Sections Dive straight in by exploring the five S.E.N.S.E. sections Explore Sections Explore Themes Filter information by stories, concepts, and practical tools Content Filter Offline Reading Save the whole book as a PDF onto your device Download Explore the five sections of S.E.N.S.E. System Section 1 ◇ Chapter 1 We live in systems ◇ Chapter 2 The simplicity of complexity ◇ Chapter 3 Levels are levers ◇ Chapter 4 Autonomy is a myth Equilibrium Section 2 ◇ Chapter 5 Systems do not die ◇ Chapter 6 Relationships are power ◇ Chapter 7 Solidarity is a verb ◇ Chapter 8 Force begets resistance ◇ Chapter 9 Loops can be unlocked Navigation Section 3 ◇ Chapter 10 Narrative is water ◇ Chapter 11 Needs are motives ◇ Chapter 12 Communities are currents ◇ Chapter 13 The messenger is the message ◇ Chapter 14 Values are bedrock ◇ Chapter 15 Decisions are learned ◇ Chapter 16 Emotion is oxygen Storms Section 4 ◇ Chapter 17 Storms are stories ◇ Chapter 18 Flexibility is perseverance ◇ Chapter 19 Foresight is 20:20 ◇ Chapter 20 Wrestling with trolls ◇ Chapter 21 Change is constant Energy Section 5 ◇ Chapter 22 Reflection is action ◇ Chapter 23 Truth is human-shaped ◇ Chapter 24 Seeds are fruit ◇ Chapter 25 Endings are beginnings About Uncommon Sense The Multicultural Leadership Initiative is a non-profit organisation, dedicated to building a climate-safe future for all by cultivating climate leadership that reflects the diversity of humanity. The Multicultural Leadership Initiative would like to acknowledge and appreciate the over 120 climate communications experts and practitioners, across over 20 countries, who have actively shared their wisdom, experiences, and advice to inform the S.E.N.S.E. methodology in this digital book. This resource, though useful to everyone, has been designed with those already familiar with the basics of Systems Thinking theory and practice in mind. If you are new to Systems Thinking applied to campaigning and advocacy we highly recommend you attend a Campaigner Accelerator training run by our friends at the Mobilisation Lab . The Uncommon Sense project was produced with financial and collaborative support from the Climate and Land Use Alliance, including identifying interviewees, proposing case studies, and developing, synthesizing, and reviewing content. We are grateful to the team at Rathana.org as the genesis partners and to the following writers, contributors and reviewers who lent their time and expertise to shaping this handbook: Hugh Mouser, Matt Daggett, Rathana Chea, Dr. Amiera Sawas, Bec Sanderson, David Roth, Diya Deb, Enggar Paramita, Jude Lee, Dr. Lori Regattieri, Dr. Merlyna Lim, Nana Darkoah Sekyiamah, Natalia Vidalon, Dr Nicolas Llano Linares, Renata Senlle, Rika Novayanti, Dr. Thelma Raman, Von Hernandez, Yemi Agbeniyi - click here for their bios . Like all things Systems Thinking related, Uncommon Sense will be an on-going, evolving and iterative initiative. More tools and downloadable resources will continually be added. We are here to support you in building your strategic communications skills for a climate safe future. Yours in uncommon sense, View full contributor list Don’t miss new tools, updates and resources Get occasional updates from Uncommon Sense. Sign Up Acknowledgement We acknowledge all the First Nations and First Nations Peoples. We pay our respects to Elders past, present and emerging. We look forward to the day where we, once more, can live in harmony with our planet as your custodianship has taught us for many thousands of years.

Section 5 Energy Chapter 24 Seeds are fruit This section urges campaigners to adopt long-term and long-time thinking—looking beyond immediate goals to consider how today’s actions will shape the world for future generations. Drawing from Indigenous “seven generations” philosophy, it highlights the need for visions (Guiding Stars) and practical steps (Near Stars) that ensure sustained impact. Jump forward and backward in time to ensure you’re acting for the long term. Many Indigenous communities across North America use “seven generations thinking” to make decisions. They think about how their actions today will affect the next seven generations of people. “In our every deliberation, we must consider the impact of our decisions on the next seven generations.” Iroquois Proverb Focusing only on the short term is a big problem not just in capitalist systems but also in the efficacy of campaigning. For example, the campaign to end the slave trade took decades, and some forms of slavery still exist today. The Chinese government has a 100 year plan. But many organizations, coalitions, and leaders only plan for three or four years, and some make long-term plans without clear steps to achieve them. “To use an agricultural metaphor, the current system [of movements attempting to build narrative power for justice] is focused on generating and cascading seeds of knowledge, but overlooking the soil where it is hoped that this will flourish.” Global Narrative Hiv e So, we come to the third question of reflection: “What now?” Once we understand how the system is changing (Chapter 20), and who and what is contributing to that change (Chapter 21), how do we plan our next steps to reach our Guiding Star and Near Star (Section 2)? We need to consider both: Long-termism: Predicting and planning for the future based on rapid and sustained developments Long-timism: Cultivating an attitude of care for the world beyond our lifetimes** It is important to consider what will be needed in seven generations from now. How many people, how much money, and how much effort will it take to change the system over this period? How can we keep the energy and commitment in our community to continue pushing for change? How can we inspire future activists and campaigners to keep the pressure on? “We can’t build what we can’t imagine, so it is imperative for us to create spaces that allow us to infinitely stretch our understanding of what’s possible.” Walidah Imarisha As with all the tools we propose, you will get better results by doing this in community with people you work with and for, and outside with the element of this chapter. There are three stages to this process: Immerse ourselves - Imagine the people we care about and how the world changes for them, in the past and future. See the forest for the trees - Consider the long-term and short-term impacts across the system. Draw out new paths - Put ourselves in the others’ shoes to find ways to a better world. Footnote: **We have borrowed the methods here from a Long Time Project practice created by Ella Saltmarshe and Hannah Smith. For more on long-time thinking see their toolkit here: https://www.thelongtimeproject.org/s/Long-Time-Project_Long-Time-Tools.pdf TOOL Human Layers Step 1: As a group, stand in a large circle 12 feet across, in a room or outside in a good amount of space. Close your eyes and feel your feet on the ground. Breathe deeply. Step 2: Think of someone you love or admire of your grandparents’ age. Focus on what it is in them that evokes warmth in you. It could be their smile, something that made them laugh, their hands, anything. Step 3: Take one step behind where you are and imagine being with that person 40 years in the past. How is that same quality that evoked warmth in you? Step 4: Take another step back and imagine being with that person another 30 years in the past, at their ninth birthday party. Where are you? Take a look out the window - what is it like? How are people behaving? Step 5: Now return to the spot you started in and imagine a small person (child, grandchild, niece) who you love or admire, and focus on what it is that evokes warmth in you. Step 6: Step forward one step and imagine being with that person 40 years in the future. Step 7: Step forward one step again and imagine you are at their 90th birthday party. The guests toast you. What are they choosing to toast you for? Step 8: Step back to the place you started in and take two deep breaths, opening your eyes again. You’ve just time traveled almost 200 years. Share with the group how you feel. What’s coming up for you? TOOL Changing Spectacles Step 1: Go back to your fire chart from Chapter 20. Take 2 sets of Post-Its, each in a different color. Ask the group to write down on the different colors, and place on the chart both positive and negative examples of: Long-termism in the system Norms, relationships, narratives, processes and outputs that are driving short term results Step 2: As a group, discuss how the most critical changes to the system are connected to long-termism and short-termism, and to different stakeholders and efforts that you and others you’ve consulted, have identified. Could you focus your efforts on strengthening or weakening those efforts with the greatest long-term effects? Step 3: Return to your overall plan. What changes might you make to your Guiding Star, Near Star, or to your targeting in order to have these greater long-term effects? TOOL Future Ripples Part 1: Go back to your fire chart. In your group, allocate to individuals in your group key stakeholder relationships (not individuals) in the system. These could be human or non-human, e.g. a river with connected ecosystems / a child and their mother in an affected community, the President and the World Bank. Part 2: Ask them to consider the implications of your updated plans in terms of: Time: What might their needs be in 5, 20, 50 years time? How might your campaign affect them? Assumptions: What assumptions about these stakeholders are we making in our plan? Why might these stakeholders question them? Practicalities: What constructs do the stakeholders need to know in order to do what we want them to do? How might this stakeholder themselves approach this differently? Part 3: What longtime changes in focus do you need to make to your plan to future proof it? Think of these areas: Guiding Star and Near Star Critical relationships and deep loop Target audiences, narrative and activities Prevention of and preparation for storms Previous Chapter Next Chapter

Section 3 Navigation Chapter 15 Decisions are learned We make 35,000+ daily decisions using mental shortcuts and biases. To influence effectively, campaigns must trigger fast, emotional thinking rather than slow, rational thinking. Using familiar cues, emotional hooks, trusted messengers, and loss aversion can shift habits quickly. Triggering the right mental shortcuts and biases can make anyone take a decision. We are all decision-makers, but none of us are 100% rational. On average we make more than 35,000 decisions every day.* Our brains use thinking styles and develop mental shortcuts and biases to reduce the amount of deep thinking we do and to make our lives livable. These become habits that we live by: Thinking styles: Thinking fast (instinctive, emotional) and thinking slow (more deliberative and more logical).* Our aim in influencing is to trigger our target to take a fast decision, and minimize slow thinking including weighing up the cost-benefit or probabilities around decisions and actions.** Mental shortcuts: We develop mental shortcuts to reduce complexity and make decisions quickly. They are subject to internal factors (emotions, intuition, memory related to the decision), and external factors (type of choices available, competing objectives, culture around the decision). Bias: An illogical discrimination between two pieces of data. We also learn thinking styles, shortcuts and biases from family, friends, colleagues and even enemies. Polynesian navigators passed down the wisdom to track the rise, fall and location of the sun and stars. They also learned to take land-dwelling birds with them on ocean journeys. The navigator would release the birds if they believed they were near land. If the bird did not return, the navigator knew that land was close. “We do not see things as they are, we see them as we are.” Anaïs Nin From a systems perspective, it is most impactful to shift a narrative that will influence thousands of small decisions. However every action to shift that narrative requires us to trigger the mental shortcuts and biases already in place with those who have power over those narratives. It is far easier to trigger an audience’s existing mental shortcuts and biases in order to shift their habits, rather than overwhelm them with hard choices. We can influence someone to pass on a message the way we want by understanding their feeling, thinking and acting habits. This Chapter shares how people make decisions so we can identify how to get them to do the actions aligned with our theory of change. You may find yourself questioning which key stakeholders should really be the target of the campaign. Footnotes: *Daniel Kahnemann explains these two forms of thinking (Systems 1 and Systems 2). Kahneman, Daniel “Thinking Fast and Slow,” 2011. ** Weighing up cost-benefit and probabilities is called Bayesian decision-making. CONCEPT Thinking Styles, Rational Checks, Mental Shortcuts & Biases Humans tend to use two thinking styles: Fast (System 1): Instinctive, emotional. Our influencing should steer targets towards this Slow (System 2): Deliberative, logical. Our influencing should minimize this. Slow thinking requires rational checks. We weigh up cost-benefits (what do we have to give up, and what do we gain) and probabilities (how likely is something to happen). Skilled strategic communicators deliberately trigger mental shortcuts and biases in an audience to guide them toward fast or slow noticing, consideration and decision. In our modern lives most of us are flooded with information. As a first step, therefore, a communication must break through the noise and be noticed (repeatedly). Mental shortcuts that guide noticing Allocation of attention: Spread, volume, repetition by familiar channels, sense of surprise all increase the likelihood of attention. Urgency: Urgent rather than important threats, events, or opportunities. Proximity: Relevance to someone’s family, community, work, hobbies or life priorities. Mental shortcuts that guide consideration Angle: The framing - the context and perspective through which information is presented. Affect: Information that inspires strong positive or negative emotions. Availability: The information already in your memory or experience. Anchoring: The first information accessed on the subject. Authority: Communication from a trusted or authoritative channel and messenger. Aversion to loss: The perceived risk of loss (pain is twice as powerful as gain).* Average: Likelihood of an event or fact based on a preconceived notion or memory. Biases that guide consideration Similarity: The preference towards what is similar to that which you are used to. Expedience (confirmation bias): People prefer information that confirms their values and does not overly challenge their understanding of the world. Experience: Preferring what we have experienced in the past. Distance: Preferring what is close to them physically or recently. Safety: Preferring what seems safest to them or what has already been proven to be safe. Biases that guide decision-making Optimism: The overestimation of your abilities. Illusion of control: The overestimate of your control over events. When defining and delivering a communications strategy for influencing a decision maker or target audience, consider how to share the framing, stories, and messages to take advantage of these mental shortcuts. If you study great communicators and communication materials - be they emails, TikTok posts, elected officials speeches, or issue campaigns - you will see that these are clearly at use. For example, communications might be from an influential messenger (Authority) sharing an emotional powerful story (Affect) about a scary risk (Aversion to Loss) and a very accessible familiar solution (Familiarity) . How can you shape your communications strategy to do the same? Where possible you may consider how to reach your target audience in a position where they need fast thinking, and trigger the mental shortcuts and biases that will appeal to them and move them to do what we want. At the same time, it is however important that we check our own logic before we engage them, so we avoid triggering unconscious bias that is culturally insensitive. Further reading: For more on the five SEEDS of bias see the NeuroLeadership Institute: https://neuroleadership.com/your-brain-at-work/seeds-model-biases-affect-decision-making/ For a more complex take on influencing behaviors, see the Behavioural Insights Group report here . STORY Replacing Cops With Mimes, Colombia In the early 1990s, Bogotá was a city paralyzed by corruption, chaos, and dangerous traffic conditions. Antanas Mockus, the newly elected mayor, faced the challenge of transforming this dysfunctional system. Mockus could see that the city was stuck in a vicious loop of corruption, impunity and mistrust. Public trust in the corrupt traffic police force was low - when traffic police attempted to enforce the law, the public disobeyed, creating more chaos on the road. So the Mayor removed the existing traffic police from the system, and added a virtuous loop of collective accountability and civic engagement: Mockus disbanded the entire traffic police force. He offered to rehire the officers—but as mimes, who would use humor and social pressure rather than coercion to influence driver behavior. He empowered Bogota citizens by distributing 350,000 “thumbs-up/thumbs-down” cards, enabling them to express approval or disapproval of traffic behavior directly. The mimes, through their non-verbal communication, highlighted the absurdity of traffic violations, encouraging drivers and pedestrians to follow rules not out of fear, but out of a shared sense of responsibility. Mockus cleverly triggered fast thinking, leveraging mental shortcuts and biases to reshape behavior and reduce traffic problems: Affect (Emotion): Mockus used humor to engage the public emotionally. By replacing corrupt police officers with mimes who used playful gestures to enforce traffic rules, he tapped into the positive emotions of surprise and amusement, making people more receptive to following rules. Authority: Although unconventional, the mimes became perceived as figures of authority. Their presence and antics were a novel way of reinforcing traffic rules without traditional enforcement, which the public had lost trust in. Mockus also empowered citizens by giving them “thumbs-up/thumbs-down” cards, making them feel authoritative in judging traffic behavior. Availability and Familiarity: Mockus capitalized on what was familiar and memorable. Traffic violations, once ignored, became absurdly visible through the mimes' exaggerated reactions, making them unforgettable. The citizens’ cards, readily available in their hands, allowed immediate feedback, embedding the new behavior in daily routines. Aversion to Loss: Mockus understood that people are more motivated by the fear of loss than the prospect of gain. By removing the corrupt police force and replacing them with mimes, he reduced the perceived "loss" of being unfairly treated or fined, encouraging compliance. Anchoring: The first interaction with the mimes, who ridiculed violations in a light-hearted manner, became the anchor for future behavior. This initial experience set a new standard for how traffic rules were perceived and followed. Similarity and Safety: The mimes represented something non-threatening and relatable—people in the community enforcing rules in a safe and humorous way. Citizens felt safer complying with these figures rather than with corrupt police officers. By utilizing these mental shortcuts and biases, Mockus effectively bypassed the need for slow, deliberative thinking. Instead, he steered the public towards quick, instinctive decisions that led to safer, more cooperative behavior on Bogotá’s streets. His strategy was highly successful, reducing traffic fatalities by over 50% and transforming the culture of the city’s streets from one of lawlessness to one of mutual respect and shared responsibility. Read more: https://www.nytimes.com/2015/07/17/opinion/the-art-of-changing-a-city.html TOOL Navigation & Persuasion Once you have read through the rest of this Navigation Section, you can bring your strategy for reach and communications together. Use the flowchart here as a guide. Route: One by one, select the most powerful decision-makers in the system and plot the route to reach them. It is likely that there will be more than one decision-maker and more than one route to reach them. It is also likely that some routes will need re-planning. Remember, each person on that route is also a decision-maker. For each decision-maker on that route, consider Outcome: Decide on what you want the decision-maker to do. Narrative: How might you appeal to the existing narrative in the system while cultivating your own counter-narrative? Focus on a consistent topline deep narrative, while allowing different people to tell stories in varied ways. This approach will help shift the narrative more effectively. Motives: What are the needs and motives of that decision-maker we need to appeal to? Network: What networks, groups or communities do they draw value and belonging from? How can your message resonate with them so that they are likely to adopt it? Messengers: Which media and other messengers does the decision-maker most trust? What does your message need to say in order for that messenger to pass it on? Values: Which of the four values frames will most likely get the decision-maker to act? Mental shortcuts and biases: Which mental shortcuts and biases will ensure the decision-maker acts quickly? Decision: Are we sure the decision-maker’s action will be the one we want? Emergence: How might our actions and those of the network, messengers and the final decision-maker play out in the system? What else might emerge that we need to consider? Could the decision create a new kind of bias that we need to consider? Previous Chapter Next Chapter

Section 4 Storms Chapter 18 Flexibility is perseverance Storms—crises or opportunities—can be navigated with four flexible strategies: Sidestep , Adapt , Shelter , Charge . Planning these responses in advance allows movements to not just survive but reshape outcomes in their favor. Four strategies to handle any crisis or opportunity. Animals respond to storms based on what they know and by working together. Humans do the same. In Bangladesh, villagers are creating floating vegetable gardens to protect their livelihoods from flooding; while in Vietnam, communities are helping to plant dense mangroves along the coast to diffuse tropical-storm waves.* “Falling might very well be flying – without the tyranny of coordinates.” Bayo Akomolafe When organizations encounter a crisis or opportunity, it is far better to work with the storm rather than confront it head-on. Organizations sometimes plan for a crisis, but rarely for opportunities. Disaster response mechanisms often center on prevention, mitigation, preparedness, response and recovery. We propose here a flexibility tool with four strategies inspired by animal responses to storms. Sidestep: Work around the edges of the storm to find your own way to survive or benefit. Adapt: Change your location, focus or strategy. Shelter: Stay quiet until the storm passes. Charge: Increase your efforts to be heard above the noise. These strategies can help you: Respond and make the most of a storm. Overcome the possible impact of a storm. Create a storm that forces your opponent to respond in some of these ways. Plan out these strategies before starting your campaign (you can practice them with the Simulation is Prevention tool in Chapter 19 ): STORY Gezi Park Iftar, Turkey In 2013, Istanbul’s Gezi Park became the epicenter of protests against an urban development plan that sparked widespread demonstrations across Turkey. The movement united diverse groups, including secular and observant Muslim anti-capitalist protesters. During the holy month of Ramadan, Turkish authorities attempted to weaken this alliance by cracking down on the protesters, hoping to exploit the religious differences between them. The protesters faced a critical challenge: how to maintain their unity in the face of government efforts to divide them, particularly during Ramadan, when Muslim protesters were fasting. The task was to prevent the authorities from using religious observance as a tool to break the solidarity of the movement. Sidestep In response to this challenge, the anti-capitalist Muslim protesters decided to use the opportunity of Ramadan traditions to build more inclusion and unity across the groups: They invited all protesters to join them for Iftar, calling it an ‘earth table’, inviting everyone - from those from all perspectives and practices - to dine together at the ground in collective solidarity. The Iftar was held in the heart of the protest area, stretching from Istiklal Street to Taksim Square. People brought simple dishes, symbolizing their shared struggle against capitalism, and people came in their authentic selves, religious or non-religious, modest or secular. The gathering transformed into a powerful demonstration of solidarity, which not only defied the authorities’ attempts to divide them but also strengthened the unity of the movement. When the police ordered the protesters to disperse, the peaceful and united crowd remained steadfast, eventually causing the police to retreat. Results The public Iftar was a turning point in the Gezi Park protests. By sidestepping the authorities’ attempt to fracture the movement, the protesters reinforced their unity and expanded their resistance from Gezi Park to Taksim Square and beyond. The event became a symbol of solidarity and resilience against capitalism, demonstrating that people could overcome their differences and stand together for a common cause. The spirit of unity that emerged from this moment was transformative, inspiring continued resistance throughout Istanbul and across Turkey. Read more: https://www.dw.com/en/remembering-gezi-during-ramadan-ground-dining-brings-together-anti-war-activists/a-19329255 and https://psa.ac.uk/sites/default/files/conference/papers/2014/RETHINKING%20THE%20SECULAR-ISLAMIC%20DIVIDE%20AFTER%20GEZI.pdf STORY The Pinjra Tod Movement, India In 2015, Jamia Milia Islamia University imposed new restrictions on women hostellers, canceling night outs and enforcing curfews. In response, a student penned a powerful letter to the Vice Chancellor, sparking the formation of Pinjra Tod (“Break the Cage”, an autonomous women’s collective. Pinjra Tod faced the challenge of addressing deeply entrenched patriarchal norms that restricted the freedoms of women students, particularly in university hostels. Their task was to mobilize students across the country to challenge these norms and advocate for greater gender equality, focusing on issues such as curfew rules, moral policing, and discriminatory practices in educational institutions. They also sought to create a more inclusive and intersectional feminist movement that addressed the concerns of women from diverse backgrounds, including those from marginalized communities. Adapt Pinjra Tod adapted by evolving its location, focus, strategy, and tactics: Decentralized Organizing and Replicable Approach: Decentralized structure helped nimbleness and adaptability: Pinjra Tod adopted a non-hierarchical structure, allowing for collective decision-making. By avoiding a single leader, they ensured equal ownership among members. This helped spread their movement to campuses across India. They built cross-movement solidarity by connecting struggles against surveillance, moral policing, and discrimination. This approach allowed the movement to resonate with women students nationwide, driving collective action. The movement also engaged women from different social groups, recognizing the importance of intersectionality and the inclusion of marginalized voices. However, this approach also faced challenges, as some members from tribal, Muslim, and Bahujan communities later expressed concerns about exclusionary practices within the group. Strategies and Tactics: The movement took nimble actions that a few members could organize quickly: Blockade: “Chakka jam,” blocking traffic to symbolize the immobilization of hostel curfews. Roaming: Night marches, climbing and even breaking hostel gates. Symbolism: Locked admin offices to mirror their own confinement. Adapting Tactics for Safety: Recognizing the risks, Pinjra Tod carefully balanced visibility and anonymity: Guerrilla tactics: Postering at night, graffiti, and strategic use of social media to avoid identification and retaliation. Volunteering for roles: Plans were made via WhatsApp groups, and during high-risk protests like the chakka jam, they assigned roles based on students’ comfort levels. Staying within certain rules: They conducted actions after 6:30 PM to avoid police arrests. They also covered CCTV cameras to protect participants’ identities. Expanding Through Alliances: Pinjra Tod received positive feedback and broadened its scope: Built alliances with non-hostellers, other student movements, and queer groups. Pinjra Tod effectively leveraged support from allies, including other student movements, queer groups, and the Delhi Commission for Women (DCW). The DCW’s support, in particular, helped challenge media narratives that portrayed Jamia as a minority institution justifying regressive rules. This support from the DCW inspired women from other universities, especially Delhi University, to organize under the Pinjra Tod banner. Organized joint events like ‘Humara Mohalla’ to address the challenges faced by women in the informal rental market, linking these issues to the broader fight for affordable and non-discriminatory accommodation. Pushing against intersectional structural oppression: These alliances helped the movement push universities to recognize the structural barriers affecting women’s education. Focus on Intersectionality and Broader Issues: Beyond addressing curfew rules, Pinjra Tod expanded its focus to sexual harassment, discriminatory dress codes, and the exclusion of women from public spaces. Pinjra Tod engaged in activities like Jan Sunwais (public hearings) to bring women’s voices to the forefront, discussing their experiences with discrimination and the flawed notion of safety in hostels. The movement also highlighted issues related to class, caste, and religious discrimination, challenging the dominance of Savarna (upper-caste) feminism and right-wing ideologies. Result Pinjra Tod successfully transformed from a campus-based protest into a national movement challenging patriarchal norms in higher education. However, internal challenges regarding inclusivity and representation emerged, leading some members from marginalized communities to leave the organization, citing exclusionary practices by upper-caste members. Despite these challenges, Pinjra Tod remains a significant force in the fight against patriarchal oppression in Indian universities. The movement has been instrumental in reshaping the discourse on women’s rights, pushing for more inclusive and intersectional feminism, and inspiring other feminist movements across the country. Read more: https://haiyya.medium.com/pinjra-tod-4-important-movement-building-lessons-2e70902f0eb3 and https://armchairjournal.com/pinjra-tod-a-contemporary-feminist-movement/ and https://pinjratod.wordpress.com/ STORY Stamping A #metoo Story Onto Blockchain, China In 2018, Yue Xin, a final-year student at Peking University, sought to expose a decades-old rape-and-suicide case involving a former lecturer. Yue and seven other students filed a Freedom Of Information (FOI) request to the university, seeking transparency on the matter. However, the university and the Chinese government swiftly moved to suppress the story, pressuring Yue and censoring her message from the tightly controlled Chinese internet. Yue and her fellow activists faced a significant challenge: how to preserve and disseminate her story in the face of severe government censorship. The task was to ensure that the story could not be erased, even as authorities sought to silence it completely. TOOL Storm Strategies Shelter Recognizing the futility of direct confrontation with the censors, online activists employed the shelter principle by quietly shifting their strategy to blockchain technology: An anonymous user embedded Yue’s letter into the Ethereum blockchain, a decentralized and immutable ledger that cannot be altered or deleted. This approach ensured that the story remained accessible, beyond the reach of Chinese censorship. Additionally, activists shared the blockchain link via QR codes and encrypted messages, further disseminating the letter while avoiding direct confrontation with the authorities. Result The activists successfully preserved Yue Xin’s message on the blockchain, making it permanently available despite the ongoing censorship. By staying quiet and avoiding direct conflict until the story was securely encoded, they sidestepped the crackdown while ensuring the story could not be removed. This action not only protected Yue’s message but also demonstrated a new method of resisting censorship, inspiring other activists facing similar challenges. The use of blockchain became a symbol of resilience and innovation in the fight for free speech in China. Read more: https://www.rfa.org/english/news/china/blockchain-04272018110005.html#:~:text=Online%20activists%20in%20China%20employed,from%20China%27s%20tightly%20controlled%20internet . Step 1 Profile the storm as a system (you may have already done this in the first Chapter in this Section). Again, profile the deep loops maintaining it: Why: What are the values underpinning the power of this storm? How is it changing the values of the wider system, or your organization? Who: Who is driving this storm, setting the rules for how it operates? How is this changing the relationships that drive the wider system, or your organization’s key relationships? Where: Where does information flow enabling the storm to thrive? How does this intersect, boost or interrupt the information flows within the wider system or your organization? How: How does the storm work in practice? How does this affect the wider system’s operations and your own? What: What are the basic inputs and outputs of the storm? What do we see publicly? How does this intersect with the wider system, and your own inputs and outputs? Deep loop: What is the deep loop maintaining the storm? Is it stabilizing, stagnating, vicious or virtuous? What effect does this loop have on the wider system and your own campaign? Step 2 Explore the different strategies you could take with the storm. Label your approaches alongside the relevant Strategies on the storm chart. Note: Sometimes you may need to use a different strategy from the one shown on the storm chart. Sidestep: What are the boundaries of the storm? Can we turn elements of the storm to our advantage? Who might we need to work with to sidestep successfully? Adapt: Do we need to change our approach or campaign target? Could we change our message, navigation, target relationships to destabilize the storm or its narrative? Should we change the channels we use to communicate, or collaborate and work through new allies who can impact where we no longer can ourselves? Shelter: Is it safe to wait out the storm? How long do we think we need to wait this out? What is the cost of not acting or responding, compared with the cost of doing so? Charge: What resources do we need to step up our efforts? With whom could we collaborate for greater impact? What interventions could turn stagnating to stabilizing? What interventions could turn vicious to virtuous? Previous Chapter Next Chapter

Browse Chapters Close Home Contributors Content Filter Search Results Introduction Section 1: System Chapter 1: We live in systems Chapter 2: The simplicity of complexity Chapter 3: Levels are levers Chapter 4: Autonomy is myth Section 2: Equilibrium Chapter 5: Systems Do Not Die Chapter 6: Relationships Are Power Chapter 7: Solidarity is a verb Chapter 8: Force begets resistance Chapter 9: Loops can be unlocked Section 3: Navigation Chapter 10: Narrative is water Chapter 11: Needs are motives Chapter 12: Communities are currents Chapter 13: The messenger is the message Chapter 14: Values are bedrock Chapter 15: Decisions are learned Chapter 16: Emotion is oxygen Section 4: Storms Chapter 17: Storms are stories Chapter 18: Flexibility is perseverance Chapter 19: Foresight is 20:20 Chapter 20: Wrestling with trolls Chapter 21: Change is constant Section 5: Energy Chapter 22: Reflection is action Chapter 23: Truth is human shaped Chapter 24: Seeds are fruit Chapter 25: Endings are beginnings Conclusion Content filter Browse by concept , story , t ool or section to quickly uncover the most relevant insights. Filter by Section Filter by Concept, Story or Tool Select Language CONCEPT Systems, Levels, and Levers Section 1: System STORY Buen Vivir, Bolivia and Ecuador Section 2: Equilibrium STORY Bell Bajao Campaign, India Section 5: Energy TOOL Changing Spectacles Section 5: Energy TOOL Deep Loop Section 2: Equilibrium TOOL Excavating Systems Levels Section 1: System TOOL Future Ripples Section 5: Energy CONCEPT How Populists Use Narrative Section 3: Navigation TOOL Networks and Ripples Section 3: Navigation CONCEPT It's Not Always What You Think It is Section 3: Navigation TOOL Networks Matrix Section 3: Navigation TOOL Navigation and Persuasion Section 3: Navigation STORY Planting Banana Trees to Shame Authorities, Zimbabwe Section 1: System STORY Racist Public Health Response, Australia Section 3: Navigation TOOL Shooting Star Section 2: Equilibrium TOOL Storm Strategies Section 4: Storms CONCEPT Ten Basic Personal Values Section 3: Navigation STORY The Chipko Movement, India Section 1: System STORY The Salt March, India Section 2: Equilibrium STORY Transgender Person Protection of Right Act, Pakistan Section 3: Navigation STORY Women Use Anlu for Change, Cameroon Section 3: Navigation STORY The Beginning of the End of the Gulag, Russia Section 2: Equilibrium STORY Ayuda a Delhi a respirar, India Section 1: System TOOL Bucle profundo Section 2: Equilibrium TOOL Cambiando lentes Section 5: Energy TOOL Anti-oppression checklist Section 2: Equilibrium TOOL Burning Through Bias Section 5: Energy CONCEPT Building Resilience Section 4: Storms STORY Cree Campaign Against Hydro Electric Project, USA Section 1: System CONCEPT Vicious Loop Section 2: Equilibrium CONCEPT Stagnating Loop Section 2: Equilibrium STORY Gezi Park Iftar, Turkey Section 4: Storms TOOL Human Layers Section 5: Energy STORY Idle No More, Canada Section 2: Equilibrium STORY Meatless Monday Campaign, Brazil Section 3: Navigation CONCEPT Movement Compass Section 5: Energy TOOL Obstacles As Targets Section 3: Navigation TOOL Privilege Walk Section 2: Equilibrium TOOL Relationship Constellations Section 2: Equilibrium TOOL Social Identity Wheel Section 2: Equilibrium CONCEPT Systems Thinking Embraces Interconnectedness Section 1: System CONCEPT Thinking Styles, Rational Checks, Mental Shortcuts, Biases Section 3: Navigation STORY The Endsars Movement and the Fight to End Police Brutality, Nigeria Section 1: System TOOL Star Setting Section 2: Equilibrium TOOL Trending Down The Fire Section 5: Energy TOOL Steps for SWOT Analysis Section 1: System TOOL Simulation and Prevention Section 4: Storms CONCEPT Brújula de movimientos Section 5: Energy CONCEPT Bucle vicioso Section 2: Equilibrium TOOL Caminata de privilegios Section 2: Equilibrium STORY Bolivia's Water War Section 1: System CONCEPT Social Threats and Rewards Section 5: Energy TOOL Campfire Dashboard Section 5: Energy CONCEPT Cycle of Oppression Section 2: Equilibrium STORY Doxing Abusive Police, Sudan Section 3: Navigation TOOL Finding Bedrock Section 3: Navigation STORY Greenwash Allows Global Plastic Pollution Increase Section 1: System TOOL Idea and Metaphor Section 3: Navigation STORY Indigenous Land Rights Movement, the Philippines Section 4: Storms TOOL Messenger Ecosystem Section 3: Navigation TOOL Simulation and Prevention Section 4: Storms STORY Panties for Peace Campaign, Myanmar Section 3: Navigation TOOL Problem Statement And Systems Circles Section 1: System STORY Religious Values and Climate Change, Indonesia Section 3: Navigation STORY Stamping #metoo on Blockchain, China Section 4: Storms TOOL Systems Trigger And Consequences Section 1: System STORY The Bentley Blockade, Australia Section 1: System CONCEPT The Features of Narrative Section 3: Navigation STORY The Successes of the Colombia Truth Commission Section 1: System STORY Violence During the Tunisian Revolution Section 1: System STORY Cree Campaign Against James Bay Hydroelectric Dam, Canada Section 5: Energy CONCEPT Amenazas y recompensas sociales Section 5: Energy CONCEPT Bucle estabilizador Section 2: Equilibrium CONCEPT Bucle virtuoso Section 2: Equilibrium STORY Campaña Bell Bajao, India Section 5: Energy CONCEPT Stablising Loop Section 2: Equilibrium TOOL Attention Economics Section 4: Storms STORY Challenges of the Colombian National Referendum Section 1: System STORY Dealing With Government Crackdown, India Section 4: Storms TOOL Early Warning Signs Section 4: Storms CONCEPT Virtuous Loop Section 2: Equilibrium STORY Help Delhi Breathe, India Section 1: System STORY Identifying Palm Oil Company Strategies, Indonesia Section 4: Storms TOOL Integrity Checklist Section 5: Energy STORY Miniskirt March, Zimbabwe Section 3: Navigation TOOL Narrative Ripples Section 3: Navigation TOOL Sensemaking Section 1: System STORY Protests and Uprising Lops in the Middle East Section 2: Equilibrium STORY Replacing Cops With Memes, Colombia Section 3: Navigation STORY Stopping Arms Transportation to Zimbabwe Section 4: Storms STORY Targeting Communities Through Media and Messengers Section 3: Navigation TOOL Storm Diagnosis Section 4: Storms STORY The Pinjra Tod Movement, India Section 4: Storms CONCEPT Three Horizons Section 5: Energy CONCEPT Warning Signs Section 4: Storms STORY Breaking Barriers: Feminist Levers & Loops in Urban Mobility Transformation. Bangalore, India, 2019-2023 Section 2: Equilibrium STORY Apuntando a comunidades a través de medios y mensajeros Section 3: Navigation CONCEPT Bucle estancado Section 2: Equilibrium STORY Buen Vivir, Bolivia y Ecuador Section 2: Equilibrium STORY Campaña Bragas por la Paz, Myanmar Section 3: Navigation

Section 3 Navigation Purpose Learn how to navigate narratives, reach and activate people within the system. How to use this section Read this before you choose a strategy. Polynesians crossed the ocean by using the relative positions of sun, moon, stars and waves, rather than just using strength or willpower. Similarly, to change a system we need to understand how to reach and activate people, rather than relying on fixed tactics. For that reason, plan your communications approach before deciding on tactics. This Section uses a water chart to help us plan how to influence others. The Chapters are: Narrative is water: To activate stakeholders, understand the narrative flows in the system, where counter-narratives exist, and how to use them. Needs are motives: Every creature on the water has a reason for its direction. Identify the needs and motivations of each stakeholder to plan how you will shift the system. Networks are currents: Communities and groups are currents that help people connect and belong. A strong network moving in a new direction will carry its members further. Values are bedrock: Our values define our worldview and rarely change unless we experience a life-altering event or as our life stage changes. To activate someone, frame your message to resonate with their values. The messenger is the message: Swells are recurring currents in the ocean. In a system, swells are the media or people we listen to most. A swell that consistently communicates a message aligned with someone's values is most likely to be heard. Decisions are learned: People develop mental shortcuts and biases that help them make decisions. Frame your message to trigger specific shortcuts and biases. Emotion is oxygen: Human emotion is essential for decision-making. Every counter-narrative needs a powerful idea or metaphor to activate others. Section summary Previous Chapter Next Chapter

Section 3 Navigation Chapter 13 The messenger is the message Messages only work if delivered by messengers the audience trusts.Messengers are like ocean swells — carrying narratives across systems. To succeed, campaigns must choose credible, authentic voices whose motivations are clear and aligned with their audience. A messenger who truly believes their message is powerful. Messengers are like swells in the ocean: repeating currents that carry narrative through the system. Ignoring them can be a big mistake. Communicating our story through a “messenger” that our target trusts is as important as the message itself. It must be clear why the messenger is sharing, and believes in, this message. “The one who tells the stories rules the world.” Hopi proverb How can we work with messengers to drive change? A simple communications plan might focus on one message, a few media outlets, and one tactic. An uncommon sense approach maps the various actors that can help spread and reinforce our message across the system. For example: Issue experts/Scientists - Share facts that influence beliefs Artists/Musicians/Performers - Create hope, change attitudes and behaviors Journalists - Expose scandals or uncover the truth Fiction writers - Inspire hope and imagination Sector leaders - Speak for their peers Organizers - Bring together different actors and messengers Grass tops - Represent the grassroots voice We should think about our organization’s role in this ecosystem and who we can partner with to increase pressure and share communications widely CONCEPT It's Not Always What You Think Climate Outreach carried out audience research in the UK during the lead up to the UNFCCC climate conference in Glasgow in 2021. Their findings showed that the UK public trusted well known figures outside of government far more than those responsible within government regarding climate change and climate related policies. Indeed the Prime Minister and Climate Minister were trusted the least in a list of public figures. Replication of graph - Information and source: Climate Outreach, pre-UNFCCC COP26, 2021 https://climateoutreach.org/reports/britain-talks-cop26/# STORY Meatless Monday Campaign, Brazil The Meatless Monday campaign in Brazil was an unsuccessful campaign showing how not to work with online influencers. Agribusiness is a national industry in Brazil. Its focus on mass production of beef, often via cutting down forests, contributes to climate change. A Brazilian bank called Bradesco, with significant investments in agribusiness, wanted to run a PR campaign to say it had a sustainable approach to the environment. It launched the Meatless Monday campaign, paying two online influencers to promote the idea of not eating meat on Mondays, in order to help the planet. There was a huge public backlash including waves of sexist comments directed at the two influencers. Mistakes by Bradesco bank Lack of Audience Understanding: Brazil has high levels of food insecurity. The two influencers were white women from upper levels of society who had the privilege and luxury of making different food choices, unlike the 33 million people in Brazil who were struggling to get enough to eat. Promoting meatless days without considering this context showed a disconnect from the realities faced by many Brazilians. Inconsistent Messaging: The bank’s involvement in agribusiness, often linked to environmental and ethical concerns, contradicted the message of Meatless Monday. This undermined the campaign’s credibility. Poor Stakeholder Support: The bank did not provide much support to the influencers to handle the backlash. When criticisms arose, the influencers bore the brunt of it, while the bank issued a statement to protect its own reputation, which doubled down on its interests by including claims that agribusiness was good for Brazil. Ignoring Systemic Impacts: The campaign did not address the broader systemic issues such as the negative impacts of agribusiness practices on indigenous and local communities, biodiversity and resilience, or offer sustainable, long-term solutions to reduce meat consumption. It focused narrowly on one day a week without addressing the deeper values, rules, and structures that sustain meat consumption. Insufficient Strategic Communication: There was a lack of strategic communications planning. The campaign did not consider potential risks or prepare a comprehensive response strategy for negative reactions. This led to a PR disaster when backlash occurred. Understanding an audience also means understanding who they trust, and who they trust with which messages. If a trusted messenger gives an insincere, out of touch, message - this will not be received well by their audience. STORY Targeting Communities Through Specific Media & Messengers, South America, Central Africa And South East Asia The Pulitzer Center's initiative focuses on addressing pressing rainforest issues through a comprehensive strategy that integrates journalism, education, and strategic communications. The project spans various regions, including South America, Central Africa, and Southeast Asia. The approach emphasizes adapting strategies to diverse local contexts rather than applying a uniform solution. The strategy is co-developed with local experts and community members, ensuring its resonance and impact. The primary goal was to effectively communicate and mobilize action around rainforest conservation in diverse regions with distinct cultural, political, and social landscapes. The project develops region-specific, resonant, strategies to do this. Their approach included: Regional Analysis and Customization: South America (Amazon Basin): Brazilian youth were targeted with campaigns reflecting their national narrative about the Amazon as a critical national asset. Conversely, Colombian youth, who did not identify as closely with the Amazon, required a different messaging approach to foster a sense of connection and urgency. Central Africa (DRC and Congo Basin): In the Democratic Republic of Congo, community-based radio initiatives were used to reach local populations, combined with educational outreach in schools to engage younger audiences. Southeast Asia (Mekong Region and Indonesia/Malaysia): The campaign in the Mekong region focused on influencer-driven initiatives, adapting methods to varying levels of communications freedom and regional differences in influencer culture. Methodological Diversity: Community Radio: In Central Africa, community radio was used to engage local populations in discussions about rainforest conservation, leveraging the widespread reach and accessibility of radio in these regions. Educational Programs: Schools were targeted in the DRC through partnerships with teachers to incorporate rainforest issues into the curriculum, promoting awareness and action from a young age. Influencer Collaborations: In Southeast Asia, influencers were engaged to reach younger audiences, with strategies customized according to local media landscapes and influencer dynamics. Youth Engagement: The project adapted its approach based on regional differences in youth engagement. In the Amazon Basin, strategies addressed varying levels of concern and national narratives, while in Colombia and Peru, efforts were made to cultivate a stronger connection to the rainforest. Challenges and Solutions Diverse Needs: The challenge of addressing rainforest issues across diverse regions required nuanced understanding and tailored solutions. The project overcame this by using a system thinking approach to analyse each region’s unique needs and developing customized strategies accordingly. Avoiding Uniformity: The initiative intentionally avoided a one-size-fits-all strategy. Instead, it focused on co-creating solutions with local audiences, ensuring that communications were relevant and impactful within each specific context. Empathy and Local Collaboration: The project emphasized empathy and collaboration with local communities to ensure that strategies were not imposed but rather developed in partnership with those directly affected by rainforest issues. Results The integration of system thinking and strategic communication led to several key outcomes: Increased Engagement: Tailoring strategies to local contexts resulted in more effective engagement with diverse audiences, enhancing awareness and mobilization efforts. Localized Impact: By customizing approaches, the project was able to address specific regional challenges and opportunities, leading to more meaningful interactions and outcomes. Enhanced Understanding: The emphasis on co-creating solutions with local communities fostered a deeper understanding of the complex dynamics influencing rainforest conservation efforts. By avoiding a uniform approach and instead developing region-specific strategies, the Pulitzer Center’s initiative successfully engaged diverse audiences with trusted messengers and supported rainforest conservation efforts across multiple regions. The project exemplifies how tailored, empathetic communication strategies can address complex challenges in varied cultural and social contexts. TOOL Messenger Ecosystem Identify messengers: Who do you need to reach and persuade your target networks or key relationships? Define roles: What role will your organization play? Plot them on the chart: Place them on the ripple chart. Collaborate: Set up meetings with others who have similar goals. Find common ground to work together. Previous Chapter Next Chapter

Section 3 Navigation Chapter 11 Needs are motives To spread a counter-narrative effectively, we must understand who needs to act, what drives them, and what barriers block them. Every individual or institution is a decision-maker, influenced by needs, motivations, and relationships. Campaigns often fail by assuming truth alone will persuade; instead, analyzing psychographics, power dynamics, and barriers helps us prioritize the audiences most likely to create systemic change. Needs help us prioritize who to target. We have identified the (counter-)narrative we want to spread. Now we need to know who needs to act, what barriers are in our way, and how to reduce those barriers. Remember, everyone is a decision-maker, making about 35,000 decisions each day. At this point, we could base our approach on one key tactic designed to reach a specific target audience with one or a few key messages. But without a more nuanced understanding of the audiences we need to reach and activate, we will likely fail to achieve the systems-level change we seek. Every decision maker, community or institution we need to reach or activate is an audience. Since everyone makes decisions, we need to navigate many streams of decision-makers to reach our ultimate target. A typical campaign might focus on one decision-maker or their supporters and assume what drives them. That campaign might also assume that the morality of their argument will win over the decision maker. But power doesn’t always care about our truth. Instead, we should look at the psychographics of each target audience and the key stakeholders that are able to influence them: their needs, motivations, their ability to influence, their lifestyle and personality. This helps us to prioritize who is most likely to act or share information. Next, we must understand the barriers preventing stakeholders and messengers from acting or sharing the new narrative. Look at the tangible and intangible factors in the strongest relationships, and the deep loops that are blocking the new narrative. Consider visible, invisible, and hidden power. Some elements might not support the current system or narrative but may still block a new narrative. TOOL Obstacles As Targets Scope Draw a Venn diagram with components of key relationships from Section 2. Include decision-makers and parts of the media ecosystem. Identify anyone or anything visible, invisible, or hidden that prevents your new narrative from taking hold. Place these stakeholders on the diagram. Profile the stakeholders Who or what is at the center that you need to focus on? Who or what matters more than others (e.g., loose regulations or public apathy)? Draw a matrix with persuadability on the x-axis and influence on the y-axis. What does this tell you? Consider How are these stakeholders affected by the issue? What do they need to survive or thrive in the system? What is their lifestyle: time-rich or time-poor? Do they like to be seen in public? What is their personality? How do they behave in public? How do they like to be seen? Why might these stakeholders be motivated to act? Why might they start, stop, or continue some action or information sharing? How can they influence the outcome we want? How many people can they influence? Is their ability easy to restrict or stop? What risk or reward is there for them taking the action we want? How do we need to influence them? Explore Could more than one theory be true? How might you test these theories? Which stakeholders should be the main targets of your campaign? Is it best for others to target other parts of the system? Previous Chapter Next Chapter

Section 1 System Purpose To understand the overlapping systems we live in that are both moving and restrictive. How to use this section Read this before you do any other analysis of the problem. What is a system? A system is an arrangement of tangible elements (e.g. people and institutions) and intangible elements (values and norms) working together toward a common goal, like in a natural ecosystem, a government or the human body. Here, we use layers of earth and a soil chart to explain systems, the various actors within them, and the effects of changes within them. We live in systems The Lakota people of North America and Indigenous Australians do not have a word for "nature" because they see humans and nature as one system, not separate entities. This interconnected view is a more logical and strategic way to see and understand the world. Simplicity in complexity Push your hands into the soil, and you may feel earth, seeds, shoots, rocks and insects. Removing what you think is a weed or pest can affect the growth of nearby plants. Understanding that we are all interconnected is the first step to understanding complexity. Learning the difference between ordered, complex and chaotic systems helps us define our approach. Levels are levers Exploring a system deeply helps us understand why its structure works. Each level of a system is like a layer of soil, with deeper layers having more control. To change a system fundamentally, we need to understand its deepest parts. Autonomy is a myth Many systems thinking use the metaphor of an iceberg to emphasize the importance of considering the hidden problems beneath the surface. This is useful, but thinking about soil layers is better. First, most of us will never see an iceberg in person, but all of us can put our fingers into the earth. Second, we believe it is essential to emphasize the connections between the many elements of a system. Rather than just ice, a system consists of roots, rocks, water, dirt, seeds, and worms, all in active connection. Footnote: * https://silvotherapy.co.uk/articles/nature-connection-native-americans Section summary Previous Chapter Next Chapter

Section 3 Navigation Chapter 12 Communities are currents Real change happens when networks — not just individuals — adopt and share new beliefs. Strongly tied communities and groups shape identity, belonging, and decision-making. To shift a system, we must identify the networks that influence targets, understand their social risks and rewards, and deliver messages through trusted members with repetition. A strongly tied network sways the feelings of its members. Getting our story covered by a major news outlet might feel like a win. But real change happens only if our audience’s own communities, groups, and networks adopt these changes first. “If your words don’t spread, they don’t work.” Anat Shenker-Osorio Communities, groups and networks are the currents that help people find belonging, identity and safety. They share information and develop ideas, which their members can then adopt or build on. To influence someone, we do not need them to fully agree with us. Instead, we may want them to react in ways that weaken their current stance or disrupt their control. When influential members of our networks disagree with us, it can make us reconsider our position. “The factors that determine how people choose their network ties are also the factors that determine who influences their behaviour” Damon Centola Every network shares values, priorities, and experiences among its members. To influence someone, we need to reach and activate the most trusted members of their networks. This also applies to communication between different networks. “It takes a thousand voices to tell a single story.” Nez Perce Native American proverb To influence a community, group or network around a target, we should: Review: Identify the networks that the target is part of, such as their family or a government cabinet. Risk and reward: Select the network with the strongest ties among its members. Consider: Strong ties vs weak ties within a target’s network (e.g. family vs. government cabinet) Social risk vs social reward for group members adopting new beliefs or behaviors Strong vs weak ties between networks Relationship: Identify the members of the network who have the closest relationship with the target. These members need to adopt and spread the new belief. Reach: Make sure your story or message is delivered in places where the network and target will see it. Know when and where they will be looking. Repetition: Repeat your message through stories, messages, and other means multiple times. Use trusted messengers (see Chapter 13) to help spread the message. Individuals might change their views or make decisions, but they might not stick to them if their community does not also change. Remember to use all the chapters in this section to frame your message with the right values, target the right people, and trigger the mental shortcuts needed to achieve your goal. Read more: Lin, Nan: Social Capital: A Theory of Social Structure and Action: https://www.cambridge.org/core/books/social-capital/E1C3BB67419F498E5E41DC44FA16D5C0 STORY Doxing Abusive Police, Sudan Women in Sudan faced severe repression under the regime of President Omar al-Bashir, who ruled from 1989 until his ousting in 2019. His government’s policies included morality laws that restricted women’s freedoms and authorized corporal punishment. The Khartoum State Public Order Law Act of 1996 had particular gendered impacts, with women being targeted by gender based violence and mobility restrictions - not only affecting their bodily autonomy but also their socioeconomic rights. When nationwide protests erupted in December 2018, sparked by economic grievances and fueled by broader demands for political change, the regime responded with brutal crackdowns, including violence and intimidation by state security officers. Civil society needed to organize and prevent further violence against demonstrators. The challenge was how to do so safely. Women were key change catalysts, many of which came to be known symbolically as “Kandakat” after historic Nubian queens and queen mothers. They drove change at multiple levels - publicly and privately. For example, before the protests, many women in Sudan had used private Facebook groups for socializing and discussing their romantic lives . but in response to the crackdown a few of them began to use these platforms as a way to “dox” (expose) the men attacking protesters: “If you’re a woman in Sudan who’s decided to take political action, you’ve already fought against so many authorities. And once you’ve made that decision, security forces won’t scare you.” Muzan Alnail, an engineer and protester Review: Women started sharing, on these Facebook groups, photos of men they had seen attacking protesters, asking on the groups if others knew their identities. Risk and Reward: The social reward for the women involved was high. They could maintain anonymity while participating in activism, and their efforts could lead to tangible changes in the behavior of security officers. Relationship: When photos of officers were shared, group members quickly provided detailed information, often sourced from personal connections. This included names, addresses, and personal history, effectively leveraging the close ties within the community to gather intelligence. Reach: The messages exposing security officers were disseminated through the private Facebook groups, which were accessible via Virtual Private Networks (VPNs) after the government blocked social media. The anonymity provided by these groups made it difficult for the regime to trace the organizers. Repetition: The women consistently repeated their message through various posts and discussions within the groups. They shared stories of successful exposure of security officers, encouraged continuous vigilance, and used trusted members to spread the message further. This repetition helped reinforce the idea that the security officers were not invincible and that their actions had consequences within their own communities. “Once, a woman responded to a man who shared a photo of a national security agent, saying that she would share it with her group. Within five minutes, we had information on him: his mother’s name, if he’s married or not. Some of his ex-girlfriends were in the group and talked about him. That was the moment that things began to shift in the group. All of a sudden, people realized: ‘We can use this.’” Enas Suliman, teacher told BuzzFeed News The results were significant: The security officers, once confident in their anonymity, began to fear exposure. Reports surfaced of officers hiding their faces in public, and some were even chased out of their neighborhoods after being identified. The momentum created by these actions contributed to the overall pressure on the regime, leading to widespread participation in the protests and the eventual downfall of Bashir's government in April 2019. Read more: Ali, N.M. (2019) Sudanese women's groups on Facebook and# Civil_Disobedience: Nairat or Thairat?(Radiant or revolutionary?). https://www.cambridge.org/core/journals/african-studies-review/article/abs/sudanese-womens-groups-on-facebook-and-civildisobedience-nairat-or-thairatradiant-or-revolutionary/BC66DCA737353C5C6BB9154279E2A50A Sudanese women at the heart of the revolution: https://africanfeminism.com/sudanese-women-at-the-heart-the-revolution/ STORY Transgender Persons Protection of Rights Act, Pakistan, 2018 In 2018, Pakistan’s parliament passed the Transgender Persons (Protection of Rights) Act, a groundbreaking law that allows individuals to self-identify as transgender and have this identity recognized on official documents. The law also prohibits discrimination against transgender people, known as Khawaja Sira in Pakistan, and affirms their rights to participate fully in democratic life, including to vote and take part in public office. Under this bill, the state is obligated to ensure their protection, through "Protection Centers and Safe Houses" — along with separate prisons or other places of confinement. The Khawaja Sira community spent years building a broad coalition including members of the feminist movement, human rights lawyers and other community activists. They carefully considered different routes to build champions and trusted messengers across key elements of the state and societal system. This involved the five steps of engaging communities: Review: The campaign identified the key networks within Pakistan's societal and political landscape that could influence the passage of the bill. This included: Parliamentarians Faith leaders Key media The general public. Risk and Reward: Syed Naveed Qamar, a member of parliament, became a key champion, supported by several senators. As the campaign developed, the social reward for these parliamentarians was significant—they could be seen as defenders of human rights and equality. However, the social risk was also high, particularly in a conservative society where support for transgender rights could be seen as controversial. Relationship: The campaign took time to build relationships early in the process, such as with faith leaders. Although there were some faith leaders who opposed the idea, the Council of Islamic Ideology, a constitutional body that advises parliament on laws offered their support, particularly in terms of its relationship to upholding rights set out within Sharia Law. Reach: Activists focused on igniting dialogues in the media on the lived experience of the Khawaja Sira community and the multiple forms of discrimination they were facing. These dialogues brought attention to their historical and cultural significance in the region; as well as the urgent need to break stigma, discrimination and violence towards them and uphold their basic rights. Repetition: By building alliances with the feminist movement, parliamentarians, and faith leaders who would speak out themselves, the campaign was able to tap into a general public sentiment, since proven in research, that transgender persons should not be subject to such violence and discrimination. What came next The Khawaja Sira co-designed the Bill, which Pakistan has now passed as an Act Although it will take some time to evaluate the impacts of the bill on the rights of the Khawaja Sira communities across Pakistan, there has certainly been greater visibility of their leadership in politics and institutions since. In the 2024 general elections, 3,000 transgender voters were registered on the electoral roll and three transgender women independently contested.* However, research shows that addressing the widespread marginalization and violence towards them is a much longer term challenge.** Further, in 2023, the Federal Shariat Court of Pakistan declared elements of the Transgender Persons Act incompatible with Islamic principles, and it is now subject to a public debate, where defense by members of different communities, including political, grassroots, faith leaders and media is key.*** Footnote: * https://www.undp.org/pakistan/publications/journey-mapping-transgender-political-candidates ** https://www.thedailystar.net/opinion/geopolitical-insights/news/pakistan-elections-2024-widespread-exclusion-the-trans-community-3538386 *** https://tribune.com.pk/story/2378007/law-minister-defends-transgender-act ; https://www.theguardian.com/world/2022/nov/20/pakistan-trans-community-steps-out-of-shadows TOOL Networks Matrix Plot: Identify and plot the key relationships, communities, and most influential messengers (e.g., news outlets) on the matrix. Expand: Break down these relationships and groups to the most influential individuals and plot them on the matrix. Spot Gaps: Identify where there are gaps in information transfer to key networks. Fill Gaps: Find any current or emerging actors/messengers from your earlier exercises who could help. Consider how you might connect or assist key actors/communities to communicate, collaborate, and channel messages. Reality Check Review the prevailing narrative and potential counter-narrative. Understand the values the target(s) hold dear, how they make decisions, and who influences them. Plan your approach for reaching them and develop an elevator pitch for each step of the way (messenger/network member/target). TOOL Networks & Ripples Plot on the ocean chart the networks you have identified. Start the network from the deepest level they are influencing information (deep narrative / narrative / stories / interactions / messages). Where will you prioritize your efforts, when and how? 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Section 2 Equilibrium Chapter 7 Solidarity is a verb Justice depends on solidarity: confronting privilege and power while supporting others in their struggles. Oppression works across all system levels, and intersectional approaches help us dismantle it. There is no justice until all of us are free. Experience, relationships, and power are not limited to what we can see or say. They can be visible, invisible, and hidden, and they play out at both small and large scales within our organizations and society. To adapt a simple definition of racism* to oppression, we could say: Privilege + Prejudice x Power = Oppression Solidarity is the ongoing active practice of confronting our own power, privilege and prejudice and supporting others in their struggles. Oppression is the ongoing unjust treatment or use of authority over others. Privilege is an advantage or entitlement that benefits members of certain groups above others. Prejudice is a preconceived feeling or opinion about others. Change does not happen in a vacuum. We need to support each other’s struggles in order to secure a fairer world. This is solidarity. It is not always easy to confront these challenges and discomforts within ourselves but long-term solidarity is important. This can mean making personal sacrifices, changing our own worldviews and forgoing friends and family in order to do what’s right. “Injustice anywhere is a threat to justice everywhere. We are caught in an inescapable network of mutuality, tied in a single garment of destiny. Whatever affects one directly, affects all indirectly.” Martin Luther King Jr, letter from Alabama jail, 1963 Oppression lives in systems and can affect all of us in different ways at the same time. We have adapted the “Four I’s of oppression”* into five levels to show how oppression works upon us. Trying to challenge oppression at any of its system levels will affect and draw on the others: Internal (What level): What we believe about ourselves, defined by the inequalities, information, structures and beliefs of the dominant system. Inequalities (How level): The system elements, flows and buffers that ensure different life outcomes and income among ourselves - and how they interact and feed back on each other. Interpersonal (Where level): The access to information and relationships that affect how we perceive each other in relation to intersecting identities. Institutional (Who level): The institutions and structures that treat people who hold different identities differently because of racism, sexism, classism, homophobia, and more. Ideological (Why level): The ideas, assumptions and beliefs that shape our understanding of what is right, good, fair, and just. “There is no such thing as a single-issue struggle because we do not live single issue lives” Audre Lorde Just as systems overlap and interact, oppressions can combine, divide and unite people. Intersectionality, a term created by Professor Kimberlé Williams Crenshaw, describes the overlaps between social identities like race, gender, and class, and oppressions like racism, sexism, and homophobia. These take different forms depending on the place or cultural context where someone is. It is important to be aware that this theory was rooted in work Professor Crenshaw did on the experiences of black women in the justice system. Intersectionality as a lens and analytical approach was fundamentally about racism - particularly anti-blackness, overlapping with sexism and classism. Privilege is any special right or advantage experienced by an individual or group. People with multiple intersecting identities tend to experience multiple kinds of oppression and sometimes privileges ahead of each other, so their perspectives and experiences differ from those who experience fewer oppressions. Simply considering the “most marginalized” groups can be risky because “most marginalized” is often defined by our inability to recognize our own privileges and biases. We need to think beyond our usual limits. “If you have come here to help me, then you are wasting your time...But if you have come because your liberation is bound up with mine, then let us work together.” Aboriginal activist group The longest-lasting stories based on the stars in the sky result from proactive community collaboration, the desire to find common understanding over many centuries. Collaborating with intent in this way is like applying our own gravity to the world around us. To achieve the results we want, we need to proactively dismantle oppression to create healthier systems. Problems affect different people in different ways, so we need to work together to find solutions that work for everyone. Working together to tell powerful stories with important messages can positively impact society for many years. Over the last 100 plus years, most campaign plans in Europe and North America have largely failed to focus on dismantling oppressive systems or making space for the most oppressed to build power. We propose taking a radical approach to power, systems, and solidarity to support others in achieving their goals: Review: Look again at each level of your target system’s star chart to see how oppressions show ideologically, internally, institutionally, and interpersonally. Learn: Educate yourself with the many resources online or offline about oppression and intersectionality. Listen to groups impacted by oppressions perpetuated by the system and observe the key relationships that keep it strong. Really seek to understand this. Do not put burden upon impacted groups by asking them to educate you. Practice continual self-reflection on your own privileges and assumptions. Ask yourself, what is your role in both upholding and dismantling the status quo? How can you do your bit with the privilege you have? Create: Make space for oppressed groups in joint decision-making, in ensuring and reflecting on disaggregated data, and in your messaging. Bring them with you to advocacy meetings with decision-makers. Center their voices to ensure they are heard alongside you, not behind you. This affirms the movement’s equity and starts to shift the harmful norms bound up in the system. Share: Share information, working spaces, funds, volunteers, and other resources. Repeat: Be consistent in delivering on your commitments. Resist recreating an unjust hierarchy in the movement. Solidarity means being prepared to sacrifice your own beliefs for the good of the wider movement if the most oppressed group believes this will best support its cause. Create representative membership of key groups and organizations within your own campaign. Reflect on who makes up the leadership. Be visible, practical, proactive, and committed. It has been proven that diverse and unexpected movements, where people experiencing different oppressions organize together, can have a huge impact on political decision-making. CONCEPT Cycle of Oppression Sources: *Read more on the four Is of oppression: https://www.grcc.edu/sites/default/files/docs/diversity/the_four_is_of_oppression.pdf **Privilege wheel https://unitedwaysem.org/wp-content/uploads/2021-21-Day-Equity-Challenge-Social-Identity-Wheel-FINAL.pdf STORY Breaking Barriers: Feminist Levers & Loops in Urban Mobility Transformation. Bangalore, India, 2019-2023 In 2019, traffic and air pollution in Bangalore were major problems. People were stuck in traffic for hours. Due to lack of public transport, private ownership of vehicles was higher than ever. Trees were being cut to build even more road lanes and bridges. Climate and mobility campaigners urged citizens to pledge to become car-free, and successfully pressured the local authorities to build a 75 km cycle lane. But the public transport system was abysmal, while car-friendly infrastructure meant that people instead spent more on their cars, making the problem worse and leaving the cycle lane hardly used. The campaign had failed to explore the real levers for change. So Greenpeace India teamed up with allies to dig deeper and find a way to decrease vehicle usage and improve urban mobility. They took the following steps: Learn Conducted a major audience research exercise among groups of people affected by intersecting systemic exclusions, barriers and oppressions. They found that almost 40% of commuters were women. These women were experiencing multiple, overlapping,forms of oppression severely impacting their safety and agency in the transport system: Interpersonal (Where level): One of the biggest barriers for women commuters in Bangalore was safety - from public transport to cycle lanes they experienced multiple threats from harassment to kidnapping or even worse. Inequalities (What level): When Covid hit, the vast majority of the working-class population could not afford cars and so they had to walk. Institutional (Who levels): Women from working class socio-economic backgrounds did not have cycles or two wheelers, so the time burdens of their daily tasks - from dropping their kids to school, coming back and cooking for the household and then going to their workplaces, like factories - multiplied massively. Ideological (Why level): Cars have always been a status symbol in much of India. But also, in general, city residents felt much safer in private vehicles and so preferred them. Internal (How level): The safety threats, barriers and costs of commuting, and increasing time burdens of work and unpaid care combined to make things very difficult for most women. Create The coalition decided to focus on women commuters as their primary audience. It designed the campaign around their needs and barriers: Over 200 citizens got together to deliberate on how the city’s budgets should be used and what the mobility system in the city should look like. In Phase 1 the coalition aimed to shift the narrative around the entitlement of the working-class underprivileged women to have access to less costly geared cycles which they could ride wearing saris. In Phase 2 the coalition aimed to make public transport more affordable and accessible, by campaigning for bus lanes that would ensure a faster commute. The coalition asked women from different sectors to join the campaign in planning and advocacy. This included feminist groups, women-led shopkeepers’ associations, transgender movements and several unusual allies joining hands to reclaim and share the city space and affirm their right to commute. Repeat A key message was to associate commuting with freedom. This resonated with women especially in the cultural context that the campaign was operating in. The campaign had some big wins: A system-focused approach helped women working class socioeconomic groups to drive and secure system-wide change. The opposition political party made a manifesto commitment to make buses free for women. When this party won the state election, they kept their promise. Daily female passenger numbers rose from 39% to 57%. This big win around mobility and gender increased a sense of agency felt by women across the movement, no matter where they came from. Citizens involved in city level decision making were able to feel part of a collective and garner solidarity for other issues that helped them reclaim their rights and space in the city towards creating more sustainable equitable urban spaces. The audience-empathetic approach to really understand people’s emotional and psychological barriers helped them to design strategies that shifted the narratives around the city’s mobility. The conversation around gender responsive, safe, mobilities for women and girls has risen in prominence across India. There is no doubt that campaigns like this have played a role in building the critical mass where women are driving conversations around the role of government putting forward policies and resources to address this issue. For example, The Mumbai Development Plan 2034 included a new chapter on gender and inclusion, acknowledging the importance of gender analysis and responsiveness in city planning. TOOL Social Identity Wheel The United Way for South Eastern Michigan’s Social Identity Wheel is an evolving tool to help better map out the different dimensions of our social identities. To quote them: “The wheel allows us to better understand how our identities shape experiences across all dimensions. Social identity refers to the aspects of someone that are formed in relation to the society they belong to. Rather than personality traits or interests that make up your identity and sense of self, social identities describe the socially constructed groups that are present in specific environments within human societies (race/gender/religion, sexual orientation, etc.).” Try drawing out this wheel and adding the “memberships” or identities that you already claim or that have been ascribed to you, for each identity group. TOOL Privilege Walk This exercise is ideal for a group to do together. The Privilege Walk Helps each of us consider our own privilege and in relation to each other. Can reveal hidden or invisible advantages that our upbringing, class, race, gender or other identities give to us. Can encourage us to think more deeply about how we might be perceived before, during and after we engage with others in the system. Can therefore inform how we might need to work harder to practice proactive solidarity, collaboration and inclusivity. Instructions Have participants form a straight line across the room about an arm’s length apart, leaving enough space in front of the line to move forward 10 steps and enough space behind to move back 10 steps. Read the statements below one by one. When you have read out all the statements below, ask each participant to share one word that captures how they are feeling. Ask the group: Would anyone like to share more about their feelings? Were certain sentences more impactful than others? How did it feel to be one of the people on the “back” side of the line? How did it feel to be one of the people on the “front” side of the line? If anyone was alone on one side, how did that feel? Was anyone always on one side of the line? (If yes: How did that feel?) Did anyone think they had experienced an average amount of privilege, but it turned out to be either more or less than they thought? Did anyone have the thought that their childhood had a deeper impact on their life trajectory than they had previously considered? Statements If one or both of your parents graduated from university, take one step forward. If you have been divorced or impacted by divorce, take one step backward. If there have been times in your life when you needed to skip a meal or were hungry because there was not enough money to buy food, take one step backward. If you have visible or invisible disabilities, such as difficulty hearing, take one step backward. If your household employs helpers, such as gardeners, cooks, nannies, etc., take one step forward. If you have access to transportation, take one step forward. If you have felt included among your peers at work, take one step forward. If you constantly feel unsafe walking alone at night, take one step backward. If you are able to move through life without fear of sexual assault, take one step forward. If your family ever fled its homeland, take one step backward. If you studied your ancestors and their history in elementary school, take one step forward. If your family has health insurance, take one step forward. If you have been bullied or made fun of based on something you cannot change (such as your gender, ethnicity, physical features, age or sexual orientation), take one step backward. If your work and school holidays coincide with religious or cultural holidays that you celebrate, take one step forward. If you were ever offered a job because of your association with a friend or family member, take one step forward. If you were ever stopped and questioned by the police because they felt you were suspicious, take one step backward. If you or your family ever inherited money or property, take one step forward. If you came from a supportive family environment, take one step forward. If one of your parents was ever laid off, or unemployed not by choice, take one step backward. If you were ever uncomfortable about a joke or statement you overheard related to your race, ethnicity, gender, appearance or sexual orientation, take one step backward. If your ancestors were forced to move to another country, take one step backward. If you would never think twice about calling the police when trouble occurs, take one step forward. If you took out loans for your education, take one step backward. If you and your romantic partner can appear as a couple in public without fear of ridicule or violence, take one step forward. If there was ever substance abuse in your household, take one step backward. If your parents told you that you can be anything you want to be, take one step forward. This has been adapted from the Kiwanis privilege walk exercise: https://www.kiwanis.org/wp-content/uploads/2023/08/privilege-walk-2023v6.pdf There are many iterations of the ‘power walk’ or ‘privilege walk’ which have been used and adapted by feminist and anti-racist educators since at least the 1990s. It is currently unclear who originated the idea, although please do let us know if you know! TOOL Anti-Oppression Checklist Review: Each level of your target system’s star chart again to explore how oppressions are showing up through ideology, internally, institutions and interpersonally. Learn: Seek out, ask and listen to intersecting groups impacted by the system and key relationships that keep it strong. How are they affected? Really seek to understand this. Check your privileges and assumptions. How can we support these groups? Create: Make space for oppressed groups in joint-decision making, in disaggregated data and in your messaging. Bring them with you to advocacy meetings with decision-makers. Centre their voices to ensure they are heard alongside not behind you. This affirms the movement’s equity. Share: Share information, intel, working space, funds, volunteers and other resources. Repeat: Be consistent in delivering on your commitments. Resist the reproduction of an unjust hierarchy in the movement. Solidarity means being prepared to sacrifice your own beliefs for the good of the wider movement, if the most oppressed group believes this will best support its cause. Create representative membership of key groups and organizations within your own campaign. Be visible, practical, proactive and committed. Previous Chapter Next Chapter

Section 5 Energy Chapter 25 Endings are beginnings This section reflects on the natural role of endings in movements and organizations, emphasizing that letting go can preserve energy, legacy, and justice for future work. It encourages reflection, renewal, and passing on resources or roles when needed so that movements can continue evolving within the wider ecosystem. Even our fire must one day be put out. The impact of climate change has resulted in more and more destructive forest fires that ravage ecosystems and reshape our environment. This is changing in front of our eyes and we are the cause. The fourth and most important question of reflection is “What, me?” Endings are natural and we should embrace them as we embrace birth within the cycle of life. The cost of a bad ending for an organization can include the loss of skills, experience, goodwill, data and legacy. It can even include the burden of trauma that staff and volunteers may carry to their next employer, group or movement “Endings are part of the natural cycle of growth, change, renewal and innovation within the nonprofit sector.” Stewarding Loss Project: Sensing Endings toolkit While fire can be destructive, it can also bring good change and renewal. When we encounter setbacks we must also be ready to “fail fast” and move on. We must learn to ask ourselves and others when it is time to tend down our fires and pass on the embers to others to continue the movement for change. “History is a relay of revolutions.” Saul Alinsky Normally evaluation methods and impact assessments are used at the “end” of a campaign if a goal has been achieved, if a major defeat has occurred, or if a funder withdraws its money. But the planet keeps turning and the ecosystems around us continue to seek harmony. In this Section we have reframed evaluation as reflection and action, to learn how the system has changed and what has become of our energy. Now we must train ourselves to learn what to do with that energy when it is time to pass it on. “We must ask if.. structures and organizations continue to serve the purposes for which they were first created. Are they true to the spirit that once inspired them?” F. David Peat, From Certainty to Uncertainty Many groups and organizations set up their campaigns and programs to honor people, communities or places that have been lost or harmed. The passion that we have for our work is strong and lasting. However it is important to continue to ask ourselves if we are helping in the best way to achieve the changes that people and communities want. It may be better to distribute our resources to others who can better disrupt the status quo instead of interfering with their efforts. We might have been important in getting the movement to this point, but we may not be able to take it further. Maybe we have run out of money or lost support from our partners. The answers lie in the wider ecosystem. Which is why we recommend any campaigning you do includes movement strength, equity and justice as key outcomes, connected to your Near Star and Guiding Star. “I’m not saying get rid of those twelve notes. I love what music has done and what it will be. But as a musician who is concerned about music, I say, what’s beyond those twelve notes?” Ytasha L. Womack, Afrofuturism: The World of Black Sci-Fi and Fantasy Culture Here we share two concepts: the Three Horizons to help you think about the necessary path to change, and a Movement Compass to identify what stage your movement is at. Then we share two tools: an Integrity Checklist to identify if you need to continue your role in achieving that change and a Fire Tending tool to understand how to wind down your role and redistribute efforts. If you have completed the exercises in this chapter and decided to continue your campaign, we recommend that you return to the start of the S.E.N.S.E. process to check if the structure and equilibrium of your target and of your organization remain the same as before. Footnotes: Rosamond Stone Zander and Benjamin Zander, The Art of the Possible, p. 8 Read further: The Gesturing Towards Decolonial Futures reciprocity commitments as an example: https://decolonialfutures.net/ CONCEPT Three Horizons The International Futures Forum and other futures practitioners developed this model over ten years to understand and guide cultural change. It helps explore new ideas and actions when the future is uncertain. It can also be applied to organizations. The three horizons are: Horizon 1 - Business as usual - The organization continues doing what it has always done. As a person: Risk averse Manager. Consequences: The dominant narrative, power and relationships in the system prevail. Questions to ask ourselves: What is business as usual and how did we get here? Why do we believe our efforts are no longer fit for purpose? How quickly do we need to wind down? Is there anything we need to retain or not lose? What is dying here and how can we help it to let go and leave well? Horizon 2: Disruptive innovation As a person: The Entrepreneur Consequences: They see the benefits of both models and can apply the innovative thinking from H3 to help achieve the future that H1 really wants deep down - leading to H2+ rather than H2- Questions to ask ourselves: What are the competing visions of the future? How can we collaborate and not derail each other? What does being disruptive mean, politically, economically, socially, technologically, legally and environmentally? What are the roots of those disruptions and what would it mean to cultivate not co-opt them? How might we help helpful disruptions to spread and who could we work with? Horizon 3 - Big picture future thinking As a person: The Visionary Consequences: The future we want. They will require us to take risks, experiment, rethink things completely. Questions to ask ourselves: What is the future we want to bring about? What seeds of that future already exist, that we might help cultivate? How? On whose work are these possibilities built upon? What is being born here and how can we help it to arrive well? CONCEPT Movement Compass Image/graph sourced from Beautiful Trouble: https://beautifultrouble.org/toolbox/tool/the-movement-cycle Movement NetLab and Beautiful Trouble have refined Herbert Blumer’s attempts to map out the cycle of social movements. While movements and campaigns can evolve, flex and fluctuate in many different ways, this tool’s six movement phases can help identify patterns and next steps: 1. Enduring Crisis: Growing Public Anger Movements often start in times of injustice and frustration Focus on building your group, raising awareness, and forming strong relationships Clearly define your issues and create a compelling story to attract supporters This helps create opportunities for action 2. Uprising: Heroic Phase Identify which phase your movement is in to focus your efforts effectively The uprising phase starts with a trigger event that motivates people to act This phase is driven by a renewed sense of purpose, even without long-term plans 3. Peak: Honeymoon During growth, your cause gains significant attention Stay focused on your message and goals Use this time to recruit new members, refuel, and gather resources for the future 4. Contraction: Disillusionment After some successes, momentum may slow down, and internal conflicts may arise Focus on well-being and create safe spaces for emotional recovery Explain that this phase is normal and use it to analyze progress and consolidate gains 5. Evolution: Learning and Reflection After setbacks, it is time to rebuild Reflect on past experiences and reorganize your movement Start new projects and experiment with new goals to give your movement fresh energy 6. New Normal: Re-growth Strengthen alliances, build infrastructure, and develop skills and relationships Now, take bold actions and set the agenda in anticipation of the next crisis or trigger event Beautiful Trouble shares that the Movement Cycle helps you see contractions not as failures but as strategic phases. It guides movement organizers on what to do next and suggests effective tactics and strategies for each phase. Remember to stay grounded during high points and optimistic during low points. Read more: Use the interactive version which provides more tips on strategies and tactics for each movement phase: https://beautifultrouble.org/compass STORY Cree Campaign Against James Bay Hydroelectric Dam, Canada The Cree people of Western Canada faced an existential crisis in the 1970s and 1980s with the proposed James Bay Hydroelectric Project by Hydro-Quebec, which threatened to flood their lands and disrupt their traditional way of life. Initially, Cree leaders focused on a legal campaign to halt the project, leading to temporary victories but ultimately losing ground as the Quebec Court of Appeal overturned favorable rulings. The need for a strategic shift became evident with the announcement of Phase 2 of the project in 1989. Around the same time, Cree elders had begun to step down from the Grand Council which had been directing the campaign. Younger members began to join the Council, including new Grand Chief Matthew Coon Come. This leadership would have had to consider questions such as: Are we focusing on the right deep loop and relationships? The deep loop driving the system included a disregard for indigenous voices. By shifting to more nimble and newsworthy public engagement, the campaign could have more success. Are we the right people to do this work? Greater public engagement was not something that the Cree elders had previously pushed for. By the time the first dam had been built, a younger group of Cree had taken seats at the Cree Grand Council. Are we effective in working with communities? Yes. The community trusted the Grand Council and now gave a mandate to the Grand Council to use any means necessary to oppose the construction of the second phase of the project. Should we partner with others or give them space? The decision to engage public and international partners such as Greenpeace and Sierra Club proved crucial in amplifying the Cree’s cause. Their strategy broadly followed a movement cycle: Enduring Crisis: Faced with governmental disregard, the new leaders tapped into growing public anger over environmental and indigenous rights, building a movement that resonated beyond legal confines. Uprising: They ignited the "heroic phase" by focusing on direct action, such as protests, media campaigns, and international outreach, shifting from a purely legal focus to public engagement. Peak: During the "honeymoon phase," the Cree’s cause gained significant attention, particularly in the US, where environmental and human rights became rallying points, sustaining momentum. Contraction: Anticipating internal conflicts and fatigue, the leaders ensured that the campaign was community-driven, maintaining morale and solidarity. Evolution: After the initial setbacks, the Cree reflected, reorganized, and adjusted their strategies, keeping their ultimate goals in sight. New Normal: The campaign evolved into a broader movement, embedding indigenous rights and environmental concerns into the national conversation, influencing future policies. The second phase of the campaign was successful: The campaign focus shifted from a narrow legal battle to a broader, more effective public campaign that engaged communities, media, and international audiences across the system. This holistic approach ultimately led to the suspension of the second phase This strategic transition of leadership guided by systemic thinking, ensured that the Cree could navigate their movement effectively through its various phases, achieving their goals while laying the groundwork for future advocacy. Note: For more on how the Cree were successful by focusing on the Who level of the system, see Chapter 3: Levels are Levers. Read more: The Cree Nation of Waskaganish: The James Bay Project https://waskaganish.ca/the-james-bay-project/ Non Violent Direct Action database: https://nvdatabase.swarthmore.edu/content/cree-first-nations-stop-second-phase-james-bay-hydroelectric-project-1989-1994 The Link Newspaper: The Hydroelectric Crises - The Fight to Live in the North, https://thelinknewspaper.ca/article/the-hydroelectric-crises-the-fight-to-live-in-the-north TOOL Integrity Checklist Step 1: Review your fire chart and your soil, star, ocean and storm charts in a group, ideally with allies. Step 2: Ask yourselves these questions: Is the system change we want still necessary? Are we focusing on the right deep loop and relationships to make this change happen? Has the decision-making process and communication in the system we want to change stayed the same? Are we the right people to do this work? Are we being effective when we work with communities to create the change we want? Should we partner with others or give them space to help achieve our vision or mission? Note: If many of your answers to these questions are No, it may be time to start tending down your fire and winding down your organization. Use the next tool for this purpose. Note (warning signs): Your campaign has passed its intended deadline or end date You are using emergency funds to keep the campaign alive The rest of the movement regularly feed back that your efforts are not needed You’ve stopped caring You feel you have something to prove You fear failure You’ve changed You’re trying to deliver on the many hours you’ve put in You think you do not have another option* TOOL Trending Down The Fire NOTE: This tool is not a replacement for professional advice, legal, financial or otherwise. This is designed to help you to think from a systems and strategic communications perspective about how to wind down your work and support others to take your movement further. Step 1: Document the evaluation, exploration and learning you’ve done so far to make your decision to shut down your campaign or organization. Step 2: Levels: Draw out a chart of your system with levels at Why, Who, Where, How and What. Step 3: Why: As a group, write the names of other campaigns or organizations working to achieve similar system change to you, and which have similar values / interests to you, on Post-Its. E.g. These campaigns or organizations may not do public campaigning, but may center women and girls in their work. Step 4: Who: Stick these Post-Its to the system level that the campaign or organization work at - e.g. influencing key relationships / reaching audiences / campaigning to change taxes. They may not yet be active on your specific issue, but may be aligned to your values. Step 5: Where: Audit your assets - the skills, funds, connections you have used in your campaign: staff, resources, funding, relationships. Which of these organizations and groups are used to working with similar assets? Step 6: How: Audit your approach so far. Which of these organizations could pick up and run with your work? Which have strong governance (management, accountability) structures and practices? Which could resume momentum fairly quickly while maintaining the integrity of your approach? Which could adapt and pivot to Storms successfully? Step 7: What: Sustainability - Do you have a viable succession plan, including how you will wind down or up your work? Could you transfer assets to another organization? Are there hidden costs to this? What essentials do you insist that anyone taking on your assets does? Step 8: Discussion: Meet with the rest of your community, allies and those you might like to pass on the torch of your work. Negotiate and agree a handover. Step 9: Narrative: What are the moments you, your team, rights holders you work with, your allies and others would like to mark? How can you bring people together to celebrate? What story do you want to tell that can strengthen the movement and help it go further? Previous Chapter Conclusion