News from the Strategy Team

September 26, 2024 by Extinction Rebellion

How on earth do you do strategy in a decentralised mass movement? 

Extinction Rebellion UK has grappled with this question since we began. Over the years strategy has been designed in a number of ways, with varying degrees of success. Each iteration has been an opportunity for reflection and learning. 

Learning from our experience and the landscape around us is embedded in our principles and values, and so it is only right to embed it in our strategic direction. Strategy is not about representing the views or opinions of people, it is evidence based. It is about looking at what is unique about XR, what we have pulled off, the skills we have and, given what we are up against, how do we win? 

Earlier this year the UK Rebel Hive refreshed the mandate of the Strategy Team, and elected new internal coordinators. The Strategy Team is a small, but diverse group of rebels. Between them they have a range of ethnicities, nationalities, genders, ages, and occupations, which is vital for bringing a range of perspectives into all areas of their work. Each member of the team now has a mandate for transparency and so they can be held accountable to it. Each role – analysis, design and comms – responds to a need that has been identified in order to build a strategy that achieves our three demands. 

The first task the team had was to evaluate the existing strategy, Here Comes Everyone. It is important to understand if the evidence on which it was based is still valid, before looking at how well it is going and which areas require more exploration. Enormous work has been undertaken across the movement to start to achieve the potential of Here Comes Everyone, and we are seeing results, but there is still a lot of potential to unlock. The Strategy Team has identified some key areas in which they can work to support the movement in this next step.  

• Strategic comms

Strategic comms might sound a bit dry, but this is vital research into how Extinction Rebellion is perceived so we can better understand how to leverage our message, and to whom, in order to achieve our maximum potential. In a world dancing to algorithms, where the media actively works against us, this is something that will be hugely beneficial to us. The insights from this work will be extremely important for many circles, such as Media and Messaging, Outreach and Pathways, as well as informing our wider understanding as a movement. The preliminary stages are already yielding some fascinating results that are both challenging and affirming.

• Community bases of power

It’s amazing what people power can do! Extinction Rebellion is a network of hundreds of supportive communities up and down the country all working together to change things. Any one group may seem small but we are mighty and making change everyday. From protecting trees, to stopping roads, protesting polluting projects and making a stand against environmental destruction in the places it’s happening. We don’t shout about how important this is enough. This project is pulling together all the processes that we use already to create these amazing communities. It is finding the practical evidence based steps we can take to strengthen them and turn them outwards so we can connect and create change with a bigger range of people. 

• Theory of change 

The original theory of change that Extinction Rebellion UK was built on was a powerful and nuanced piece of work, which has not been communicated well enough around the movement. For many it is something about arrest, or something about staying on the streets of London for a certain number of days before magic inevitably happens. In reality it is more multifaceted and intriguing, and in order to achieve its potential we need to know it. But the landscape has changed since 2018, and so it is vital to take some time to look at where the theory of change needs to evolve, and what that process looks like. 

Each of these projects are bringing fascinating insights and expanding knowledge, which needs to be shared – the work of the Strategy Team seeks to empower and inform. There is still more vital conversation and consultation with the rebels that make up this movement that needs to happen, which is something the team are looking forward to. 

Extinction Rebellion is trying to achieve something that has never been done before, there is no roadmap. By staying rooted in evidence, embracing diverse perspectives, and fostering open dialogue within the movement, we can collectively adapt, innovate and strengthen our impact. This is how we win.