Personal Stories In A Newsletter

Great work from the new economics foundation:

• clear relationship between personal experience of inequality and report
• photo – smiling, looking into the camera
• immediate introduction, ‘hello – my name’s Faiza’

Similar learning in the Rockwood newsletter:

• humour, showing personality
• sharing humanity of not knowing

Link Loving 17.11.11

• Who is really behind the campaign to cut fuel duty? Polly Curtis.
• Ten ways the occupy movement changes everything. Lisa Hymas.
• We live in a cowardly state. Richard Murphy.
• What do you do after you’ve done your best? Seth Godin.
• A collection of essays on social innovation from McKinsey. Well, why not?
• Who’s the decider? From India to Europe to the United States, it’s hard to find real leaders these days. Tom Friedman.
• Global protests: is 2011 a year that will change the world? John Harris.

Link Loving 16.11.11

• Letter from an imprisoned activist: Time to ‘play dirty’ for the climate’s sake. Tim DeChristopher.
• E-petitions need to be rethought urgently. Natascha Engel MP.
• Obama campaign struggling to get youth energy behind the campaign. Adam Nagourney.
• The more they talk, the less voters like them. The GOP’s message machine is failing. Eugene Robinson.
• Change and the power of non-violence. A story from Oakland. Kit Evans.
• What kind of inequality is acceptable? Insightful and full of humour. David Brooks.
• Desperate Scousewives. This is real.
• Frozen Planet will not be shown in the US ‘because American public doesn’t believe in climate change. Daily Mail.

City Of Sanctuary

What a wonderful, wonderful organisation. I blubbered all over my screen watching this –

Why it works –

• Frame of host’s welcome: our responsibility as a host to welcome people. Not their responsibility ‘to fit in’
• Music, dancing, art as tools for people to be human together
• Creating friendships, a web of relationships – not a client/provider set up
• Organisations from all parts/sectors working together, and having to show commitment by doing something
• Meaningful work for asylum seekers alongside local residents (on the Greenfingers project for example) when they’re not allowed to work/study elsewhere – achieving things together
• Recognising volunteers with the award

‘Realism’

Great quote from Tom Burke’s column in ENDS about the upcoming Durban climate talks.

“The voluntarist approach advocated by some, especially the United States, under the banner of ‘realism’ is a seductive delusion. It is a sly way of giving up on the goal while seeking to avoid blame for the consequences.”

Link Loving 15.11.11

• This casino-capitalist economy isn’t working. Since the 1973 recession, it has taken longer and longer for jobs to return to the US. McKinsey estimates it will take 5 years before job levels are back to 2008 levels.
• An interesting interview with Uri Gordon, the anarchist theorist and activist. Useful for clearing up what anarchism is actually about.
• BP gets judged by the company it keeps. And comes out looking like ‘crooks and thieves’. Mallen Baker.
• Abundance community investment platform.
• Hack4Transparency, the first hacking event happening in the European Parliament, took place in Brussels earlier this week.
• The Iron Lady trailer is out. Oh boy.
• Across South America, farmers fight mining. Luisa Trujillo.
• The Trades Union Congress release their pocket book guide to organising.

Women, War & Peace

American broadcaster PBS has just finished a five-part series of films examining the role of women as peace makers. ‘Women, War & Peace‘ tells the stories of extraordinary women in Bosnia, Libera, Columbia and Afghanistan and their work to build peace.

All five films are available to watch for free here – and they’re well worth the time. A preview below for ‘Pray The Devil Back To Hell’ from Liberia.

 

 

Link Loving 14.11.11

• Telling a story or selling a story? Richard House examines the top news stories and categorises them brilliantly – Occupy protests as comedy, Afghanistan as tragedy, the Arab Spring as romance etc.
• Google X – the secret lab of the future. Claire Cain Miller and Nick Bilton.
• How Occupy protestors are being forced from public spaces onto campuses. Malia Wollan and Elizabeth A. Hariss.
• Hey business lobby – more regulation creates as well as abolishes jobs. Economists say overall effect is minimal. Jia Lynn Yang.

What I’m Working On For The Next Nine Months

I’ve just returned from three adventurous months singing my way around Europe, and wanted to share some exciting news about what I’m working on now that I’m back in London.

To build a world that is fair and where life can flourish, we know that we need a much more powerful and connected movement of citizens to challenge corruption and greed. More and more people want to work together across individual issues, while many more of us realise that we’ll need to go beyond signing petitions and donating money to challenge today’s power structures.

For the next nine months, I’ll be working with WWF and Oxfam on the ‘Common Cause‘ project – which last year released an influential report examining how values and frames influence campaigns. I’ll be working with campaigners all around the country asking the question – ‘what does campaigning look like if we base it on values like equality, independent thought and kindness?’ How will that change the way we communicate with organisational supporters? Would it change the way charities try to pressure government and businesses? I’ll be collecting case studies, sharing stories, and leading an ‘action-learning’ process in which 20 campaigners will try out new ways of working with their members.

I’m hoping to speak to as many organisations and individuals as possible – do you have any thoughts to share? Do you know any charities and NGOs that would be willing to talk to me? I’d be immensely grateful for any tips you can give.

For the very keen – there’s also a training in February to learn more about how to use values and frames in their campaigning.

Thank you,

Casper

Singing for a volunteer-run community radio station in Hildesheim, Germany

Ellen MacArthur Gets Ready To Take On Government

I still think Dame Ellen MacArthur is set to become the UK’s Annie Leonard. Her foundation’s latest promo (a cleverly set up version of an annual report), again shows her very British mix of reasonableness and radicalism. She reveals that after working with education and business in their first year – next up is trying to persuade government that a circular economy is the way to go.

Nice one.