How should charities work with civil disobedience groups?

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A March 2023 report by nfpResearch considers how environmental charities can modernise their campaign tactics to meet the challenges of the twenty first century, in particular the rise of non-violent civil disobedience groups such as Extinction Rebellion, Just Stop Oil, and Insulate Britain.

 

We take a deep dive into the report through the lens of digital technology, identifying the tools that can support this process.

 

 

Work together

 

Charities and direct action groups can work in harmony, the report says, as both types of organisation have different strengths and abilities in pushing the environmental agenda forward in the UK.

 

For example, while direct action groups have raised the profile of environmental issues, put pressure on elected officials to act, and created space to talk about the environment in the political sphere, politicians do not want to work with them directly, finding them unpalatable.

 

The report also found that patience is wearing thin with the disruptive tactics of these groups and that ongoing attempts to criminalise climate protest mean that direct action is becoming less accessible.

 

Charities, on the other hand, are respected in both a policy context and in public opinion. As both types of organisation are working towards the same goals, the report recommends that they “combine their efforts” by identifying common political aims and creating consistent messaging between the different types of organisation.

 

 

Digital case study: The Big One

 

As an example of charities and direct action groups combining their efforts, Extinction Rebellion has set the date for a gathering called The Big One: an occasion where people from different groups and movements will gather throughout Westminster and at the Houses of Parliament in April 2023.

 

This comes after the announcement in January 2023 that the group would be taking a different approach: “This year, we prioritise attendance over arrest and relationships over roadblocks, as we stand together and become impossible to ignore…It may be uncomfortable or difficult, but the strength of all social, environmental, and justice movements lies in working together”.

 

Among the diverse supporting organisations, charities include War on Want, Tearfund, Whale and Dolphin Conservation, Viva!, and Quakers in Britain.

 

In agreeing to be a supporter, organisations have flexibility. As they see appropriate, they can choose to attend, use digital communications to mobilise their community to participate, issue public statements in support, publicly support The Big One’s demands, provide logistical support, provide financial support, or propose other additional ideas for supporting.

 

In this case, alliances are forged online through Extinction Rebellion’s website, which houses information about the action, the supporter agreement, and the supporter sign-up form.

 

As a continuation of the historic use of the internet to bring people together in environmental movements, this is a good example of how different types of organisations can use digital technology to work together, both on their own terms and towards a common goal.

 

 

Campaign boldly for policy

 

Charities maintain close relationships with politicians and civil servants across the UK and are useful to legislation in providing their knowledge and practical experience, the report notes. They have often introduced important pieces of legislation and mobilised large sections of the population towards their missions.

 

The report argues that environmental charities should “consolidate the gains” made by direct action groups “by pushing for more comprehensive legislation that addresses the scale of the crisis”, stating that “they need to be bolder in how they use their voice and how they hold the government to account”.

 

 

Digital case study: Attack on Nature Campaign

 

A great example of this, the report says, is the Attack on Nature Campaign by charities such as Royal Society for the Protection of Birds (RSPB), National Trust, Woodland Trust, and The Wildlife Trusts, which responded to the policies outlined in Liz Truss’s mini-budget in September 2022.

 

The policies which they campaigned against were plans to introduce 38 “Investment Zones”, where environmental protections would be relaxed to encourage business and housing development, and proposals to get rid of important environmental laws and the nature-friendly farming scheme.

 

In response, charities took to social media to encourage the public to write letters to their MPs:

 

 

The collective response from this resulted in over 100,000 letters to local MPs opposing the plans:

 

 

And following the Prime Minister’s resignation from the position, Jeremy Hunt announced that these proposed policies would not be going ahead.

 

A public affairs specialist commented that these organisations “did step up and show that they…won’t just take stuff lying down and will, if roused, mobilise their supporters and use their voices”.

 

The RSPB has also used its website to communicate with its supporters on the campaign. It now states: “Your outpouring of support for nature has been crucial and powerful. Together, we’ve made progress.”

 

It goes on to recognise the success of the campaign’s unified voice across organisations: “Beyond the RSPB – we witnessed an incredible united resistance against the proposed plans, from voices across the UK and further, spanning sectors and spaces, from politicians and businesses to farmers and ecologists questioning the direction. We all depend on nature for the food we eat, the air we breathe, and for our very survival.”

 

The RSPB has produced an online Action for Nature Toolkit for the public to complement the ongoing campaign to defend nature in the UK.

 

 

Support local communities to campaign

 

A public affairs specialist emphasised the value of the unique position of environmental charities, who have a broader public appeal than direct action groups: “It’s not always about in-your-face protest, but about finding angles that appeal to local people.”

 

An interviewee from Just Stop Oil noted the importance of environmental charities for creating a “socially acceptable” space for protest for these demographics: “It’s about creating pathways for non-arrestable actions whereby people can get involved and express their concern around government inaction. Charities are so well placed to be facilitating this”.

 

A charity campaigner interviewed suggested that in-person forms of protest are preferable to online forms when building a powerful movement. “especially post-COVID-19 there is a real appetite and power behind this form of campaigning that brings people together in public spaces”.

 

The report also suggests that environmental charities should decentralise their campaigning by supporting local groups to campaign autonomously. One charity campaigner described this as “building bottom-up change”.

 

 

Case Study: Movement building approach

 

The RSPB’s “Movement Building Approach” is one clear example of building bottom-up change given in the report, with advantages including the ability to engage with those who have lived experience rather than “relying on a network of professionalised campaigners and public affairs specialists”.

 

As discussed in the YouTube video “Movement Building and Community Action”, the charity is working to produce a Collective Community Action Playbook, which will house a collection of strategies or approaches for taking climate action and defending nature contributed by a range of organisations of different sizes.

 

In addition, the charity, along with WWF-UK and the National Trust, facilitated the People’s Plan for Nature, as a “voice of the UK public”. The plan is informed by both a national conversation and a People’s Assembly for Nature, “made up of 100 strangers from all walks of life”. This includes eight calls to action across a range of topics, from vision and leadership to local access to nature.

 

 

Digital tools

 

Charities and non-profits can also produce a host of online resources to support local communities to campaign. Some great examples include:

• Friends of the Earth’s Local Action hub which houses campaign resources, policies and guidance, advice on how to apply for a grant and how to order materials, and the opportunity to book a session with an experienced campaigner for advice
• Media & Communications Toolkit for National Lottery funded, community-led climate action projects by Media Trust and the National Lottery Community Fund. This includes “advice on creating a communications plan, creating content, getting media coverage, engaging online communities, measuring your impact, and much more”
• The Woodland Trust’s “How to” guides on setting up a local group, arranging community meetings, and objecting to a planning application help communities to apply the principles of the conservation charity into the context of their own local area
• The Earth Defenders Toolkit by Digital Democracy. This is “a growing collection of resources and training materials for communities on the frontlines of the struggle to defend critical ecosystems around the world, and community networks for users to connect and share their experiences”

 

 

Speak with one voice

 

Due to the polarising nature of many direct action tactics, the report states that it is increasingly necessary for charities to translate climate concerns in a way that keeps focus on the climate itself regardless of a person’s political leanings.

 

In a powerful argument describing the environment sector’s unity of purpose, one charity representative stated that all political agendas are directly related to how the environment is changing.

 

The report notes that while creating formal partnerships with direct action groups could prove tricky for charities (who must consider both public opinion and charity law), there are also a range of informal options available, such as adopting a shared policy stance, publicly supporting an overarching political aim, or generally finding some form of shared message.

 

A charity official stated: “It has to be done in a way that triggers a positive response with the public and politicians…This starts by talking to one another more and sharing a message that is articulated by everyone from Extinction Rebellion to the most conservative National Trust member.”

 

The report notes that individual charities will each interact with social movements differently, but that “the need to build a shared voice must sit above organisational differences”.

 

 

Case study: Show the Love Campaign

 

The Climate Coalition’s annual Show the Love campaign is based around research conducted by the charity Climate Outreach in 2014. The research found that grounding the issue in “a positive narrative of shared values and identity…the common experience of love, tenderness, and care” was the most effective way to communicate about tackling climate change.

 

Climate Outreach reflects on the first campaign video: it shows “real people from their own communities, speaking in their own words, talking about their own feelings”, namely their love for a range of things: fishing, summer, chocolate, football, driving a taxi around London, and their grandchildren.

 

The campaign has been successful in garnering support across the political spectrum.

 

 

Digital tools

 

To address the comment that different organisations need to start by “talking to each other more” to establish common ground, there are a range of communications tools that might be useful, such as Zoom, Microsoft Teams, or even Asana for managing shared projects where appropriate.

 

As a note, eligible non-profits and charities can gain access to these tools at a reduced rate through our Charity Digital Exchange Service.

 

In terms of creating a shared voice on the issue of climate change, Climate Outreach’s free online toolkit Britain Talks Climate can be used by any organisation trying to engage the British public about climate change.

 

Explaining the research that underlies the toolkit, Climate Outreach describes the country as “fractured but not deeply polarised, with climate change emerging as an issue that has the potential to unite us”.

 

The toolkit clearly explains the diverse range of values and everyday concerns relating to climate change of seven different demographics of the UK population, making it easier for charities to engage their various communities on this uniting issue.