Community Action – Involving A Wider Audience

Can the changemakers change?

Presentation by Natasha Adams & Lee Baker

Community organising

“Bringing people

in a community

together so that

they can take

action together on

common aims and

concerns”

Why organising?For me, community organising stands out because of:: listening, democracy, and people take the lead..

➔ Starts with listeningTo explore latent motivations to take collective action - not pushing an issue.

➔ DemocracyOrganisers facilitate meetings so people can decide what to do fairly

➔ People take the leadOrganising aims to support leaders to emerge who need us less and less

Organising in Coldharbour

Listened to 600 people, 385 joined a community network, dozens actively. Eight leaders emerged who confronted power for first time and fought for, and won, a new road crossing.

Angell Town

This summer trained eight

emerging leaders in

community organising. Group

felt frustrated that despite

many projects to improve the

estate most don’t feel

involved. Some want to start

their own listening campaign

to build a powerful community.

Mobilising

• Engaging people en masse

• Getting those already

interested involved

• Can be paper or e-petitions,

low level actions and more

deeply engaged activism

To provoke a debate...

My questionsCan community organising and mobilising be combined?

So that campaigns don’t only involve those who already do this sort of thing and are more people-powered and unstoppable!

And so organising can be done at a bigger scale - to win changes borough-wide, London-wide, or U.K-wide or globally?

Networked Change http://netchange.co/report

Thank you!

lee@londoncommunityaction.org.uk

londoncommunityaction.org.uk

07860-785-957 @leebaker_

Natasha.adams1980@gmail.com

thinkingdoingchanging.wordpress.com

@tashahesterwww.facebook.com/groups/engagingactivists