BREAZE

There are lots of strategies and ways to maintain momentum within your group

As your Climate Action Group matures and members come and go, you may find that momentum and energy in the group starts to fade. This doesn’t mean that you are not a successful Climate Action Group. Nor is it the fault of the group coordinators. This is a natural part of being involved in a community group, and of campaigning for change on such an enormous scale. However, there are lots of strategies and ways to avoid or minimise this that your group can try.

1. First step, is to recognise when you need a break. As individuals we must be responsible for our own health and energy.  It’s important to recognise that all the members of your group will have competing priorities such as family, work and social commitments that may need to take priority for a while.  When campaigning, it’s easy to get caught up in all the work you need to do and neglect other parts of your life. Take time out to enjoy yourself and spend time with the people you love. Encourage others in your group to do the same if they seem like they are losing energy.

2. Recognise that while you are slogging away for real action on climate change day in and day out, this is not a battle that will be won in the next couple of years. Changing the world will take a lifetime. Pace yourself, and recognise that just because you didn’t win today, doesn’t mean you won’t win tomorrow.

3. Try to have push periods, where you throw yourself into working really hard through to a deadline, such as an election. Then take a break for a while and allow yourself to recover.

4. Try not to play the blame game. It’s very easy to look around and see that greenhouse emissions are still rising and that politicians aren’t taking climate change seriously, and conclude that those who’ve come before you have failed, that their strategies are wrong, and that they are responsible for the mess that we’re in. Without those who’ve come before, we’d be in a far bigger mess. Reflect on your strategy, and strategies used elsewhere, and consider where you think we can get break-though.

5. Importantly, understand that solving climate change isn’t solely your responsibility. While you might feel at times like the only person in the world (or at least in your community) who understands how serious the climate crisis is and what we need to do about it, there are others. You are part of a global movement for change. Individuals and Climate Action Groups spread out across the state, across the nation and across the world are working tirelessly for the same objectives as you. Link up with these networks, get a sense of the activity happening all around you, and feed off some of that energy until you get your own back. Working together to achieve our biggest impact is the only way we will get there.

Activist burn-out is a well understood and widely recognised phenomena. In 1987, Bill Moyer, a US activist, developed the Movement Action Plan (MAP) to describe the eight stages that a successful social movement goes through. The MAP allows you to recognise where the climate movement is on the timeline, and that burn-out is a natural part of all movements.

For further information about how to minimise and handle burn-out in your group, The Change Agency has a wealth of information and materials available online.