On my 3rd Climate Action Workshop with about 120 Others On Zoom, Stay Tuned!

Since I marked it on my calendar I was ready to open the zoom link for the 3rd talk on becoming a Climate Activist... Lots of great points covered even for running a group today that can pertain to many areas.  https://bit.ly/350-training-2021

All free and so needed, as one person Nan H shared, "There is no Planet B!"  (That was their reason for joining the cause...and many others put more in the chat to be engaged along the way from introductions such as the land they live on in connection with the historical heritage from Native people's...to honor that the land was taken from those who had it for thousands of years and more...) I looked up the following and trust more can get the tee shirts and such with that message  to wear and organize more folks. Heres the history of the statement 'there is no planet B."

"There can be no Plan B because there is no planet B," UN Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon said yesterday at Stanford (CA, USA.)

I have the Turtle Garden Permaculture Game (and Circle of Friends) by Catherine Palmer Paton and online for free to help get folks warmed up to these concepts...

Thank you for registering for "SKILLING UP FOR CLIMATE ACTION".
Today, April 10th at 11:00 am - 12:30 pm PT // 2:00 - 3:30 pm ET
The training will be 90 mins long with an optional 30 mins at the end to discuss how the training was facilitated.

Here are my notes from the  event which is many shared by members including San Diego 350 and 350 Colorado... of 350.org Network Council (10 of the 350.org from CO, San Diego, Seattle, National, ... share principles, tools and stronger connections with others in the network).. It's about Skilling Up. Policy Advocacy, etc.   Here's a link to resources as well... https://bit.ly/350-training-2021

Some of the main points were to welcome newcomers to a group that is diverse in age and other ways, culturally and socially etc, for a 350.org local group or event etc (and of course as much as possible with whatever group is gathering in person or online as makes sense, and I would add keeping safety and tips for people to get to know one another in public areas and have buddies etc to appropriately monitor interactions outside of a meeting, again mainly in public areas for starters etc and do one's 'due diligence' to know who one is interacting with for safety and competency in being appropriate and on the same page since personal interactions can easily 'lead to other kinds of interactions' whether one is aware of that or not.

Having clear ways to tune the whole group into the effort to be welcoming and pacing time to engage the group in lighthearted or easy ways to chime in with a sense of responding such as with +++ signs or if not in agreement with --- (I'll have to check that...)

Allowing one person to give a newcomer contact info if they want to be in touch and get follow up contact info so they could have a more personal conversation about their interests and ways they'd like to be involved or take small actions as a group and so on. The level of ask may be a donation or signature and other ways of demonstrating commitment to the cause, inviting more people, helping organize and participate etc...The ASK needs to fit the volunteer skills and availability is important.

Everyone has a talent to bring to the local group and campaign. It's up to people in the group to inquire...and find their talent such as what would they like to do next, what tools or support would you need to do that and so on. With a way for tracking what each person works the flow can continue and people can become more involved.

Since people are busy and appreciate healthy bonding over time, keeping in touch with calls, texts and emails it allows for more people to help with various efforts. Google spreadsheets can help track who has been asked or involved. Take time to teach others to do the task rather than only people with the skills to keep doing things. Teaching volunteers to do more skills allows for leaders and more seasoned members to keep working on other projects.

Explain how the process works, who members are and what people do. Don't ghost people (leave them wondering what is going on or when you will be in touch or get lost in the shuffle.) To move volunteers up the ladder, host training  Justice, Equity, Diversity and Inclusion (JEDI) trainings and Climate Action workshops can help everyone develop skills and facilitation efforts.

More members will develop confidence and a sense of belonging, helping more feel at home and learning together with success. Time invested in these kinds of trainings (1-2/year) will have many good outcomes. 

The ladder of engagement should be realistic and authentic. When we find out what the volunteer is feeling attracted to be involved in then they can be coached with the one-to-one with even over time a few times to help them move along. Mentors can help them develop goals and listen, offer solutions and develop skills as well as be a role model and inspiration to beneift mentees (volunteers and others in an outreach effort.) It's important to do leadership goals..."to achieve common purpose in the face of uncertainty."

Rather than a leader in the middle, the snowflake model involves many working together in a distributed manner with local activism. Interconnnected teams are furthering goals and leadership. "Leaders develop leaders and that continues in a sustainable way..." Important not to have one leader or no leader but a model based on equality.

About half of the effort to growing membership and half to educating volunteers was given as well as other helpful points... I'll maybe fill in and review but hope this is helpful. Think of joining a 350.org group today to help our planet!