CASE STUDY: Community leader training from 10:10

Over 50,000 people have now signed up to 10:10, the campaign to get people, businesses and organisations to cut their carbon emissions by 10 per cent in 2010.

‘The challenge we face is to get people to have signed to act now,' says Daniel Vockins, the campaign manager for 10:10.

The biggest resource the campaign has is the people who have already signed up, says Tracey Todhunter, the communities liaison for 10:10.

‘These are the people who are already committed and most enthusiastic,' says Todhunter. ‘If we want to get the 10:10 message out to thousands more people across the UK they're the best way for us to do it.'

The idea is to convert volunteers who have already signed up to 10:10 to be community leaders in a series of events around the country. This is the 10:10 Community Roadshow.

Fifty volunteers in the basement bar of a theatre in South London in November were the first group to receive the 10:10 community leader training.

Communicate your story

The organisers believe the way to create a groundswell is to teach people how to motivate their communities into taking action.

The workshop mainly consists of learning communication techniques - the aim is to be able to walk away equipped to give a presentation to local communities on climate change and the 10:10 campaign.

The aspirant leaders are given guidance and advice about giving inspirational talks from Liz McDowell from Otesha, which is a charity using cycling to help young people engage with environmental issues.

McDowell teaches a method that is called 'Story of Self', which was used by Obama used to win the last US election. Marshall Ganz, the head of communications for Obama's presidency campaign, devised this method of public narrative speaking after decades of campaigning experience.

Personal and positive

‘Personal narrative builds on telling your story, elaborating shared values that you might have with someone else or a whole community. Also, talking about why we need to take action now, and giving people a vision of what the future will be if we all take action together,' says McDowell.

Roadshow participants work in small groups to learn to piece together their experiences with the bigger picture. It can be quite a personal thing sharing why you are passionate about climate change, but with plenty of feedback and support from others most people become confident in telling their story - and crucially telling it in way that makes people feel there is hope.

‘If you think climate change, you think 'oh no, guilt, gloom and doom, maybe flooding in Bangladesh, maybe polar bears,' but you don't think about your life or the lives of people you know, or feel that it's something positive you can do something about,' says McDowell.

The American Psychology Association report on psychology and climate change stated that climate change doom can create inertia. Learning to communicate about climate change in a positive way is important to inspire action. 

Green network

Future community leaders are grouped together by the roadshow organisers by postcode to practise their narratives. This is so they can connect with each other and work together on events and actions over the next year.

‘I'm still in contact with four of the people I met on the day,' says Laila Hackforth-Jones, one of the participants of the London roadshow.

She describes joining an environmental group organized by one of her postcode gang, and also linking up one of the girls she met at that group with a local sustainability group. This is just one example of building green networks in local communities.

Other opportunities to hook up with people in your local area include over packed lunch and a brainstorming session at the end of the day.

Reaching out

Brainstorming is an essential part of the day's proceedings. Big sheets of paper are passed around with felt tips so participants can scrawl down their ideas for forums for disseminating the 10:10 message. To kick-start the process, cards are passed around that ask questions like: ‘What communities would you speak to about 10:10?' and ‘Where would you put up posters about 10:10?'

Identifying communities that can be talked around to committing to 10:10 such as schools, church groups, colleagues, is important. Existing local green organizations can provide support, but as Vockins explains, the aim is to ‘target people who would not otherwise sign up by doing exciting things in your communities'.

Once you have convinced people to sign up, what next? There will be a lot of different actions taking place in 2010 around the campaign. The 10:10 website will be re-launched to engage the public in an interactive online community.

Innovative plans include having a map with scoreboard so you can see how your reductions compare to other people's in your area, and also monthly targeted campaigns - for instance, trying to get a record number of cars off the road one month. Community leaders will know about these a couple of weeks in advance so they can galvanise action in their local communites.

Resources

Apart from receiving newsletters with information on the grassroots 10:10 campaign, community leaders will be able to use all of the online resources on the 10:10 website for organising events, public narrative speaking, case studies, poster templates and more.

There is also a great team supporting community action. Todhunter says that her role as communities liaison ‘does what it says on the tin'. She will be giving advice and information, fielding queries, and receiving feedback on what groups are doing.

Useful links

Resources for promoting 10:10 are on the 10:10 website.

Information on the 2010 roadshow coming soon.

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10 tips on communicating with communities:

1. Brainstorm to come up with people who are potential 10:10-ers in your community

2. Identify the kind of language the community that you are talking to will respond to.

3. Create a friendly atmosphere, and use the handy conversation starters from the 10:10 website

4. Practise your personal narrative in advance

5. Relate to your community by emphasising shared values, such as family, love of nature, or whatever else will inspire them

6. Make people feel part of something bigger. Pin this vision down: ask for a commitment of one action there and then, such as signing up to 10:10

7. Spread the word about the 10:10 campaign and its successes, including case studies

8. For tips on keeping your communication upbeat download the Supporters Communication Pack from the 10:10 website

9. Make your talk interactive: get people to write their questions on post its so you can answer them at the end of your talk

10. Keep updated on climate science. Prepare a simple line or two to help you answer questions.

Christine Ottery is a freelance journalist

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