ORGANIZING FOR COMMUNITY ACTION
Recruiting Community Partners
Aim for as broad-based a group of partners as possible. Climate change affects everyone in the community, and everyone in the community has a role to play in meeting this challenge. Depending on your community, key interest groups and perspectives might include:
- Environmental groups
- Civic groups (AAUW, NAACP)
- Service clubs (Rotary, Kiwanis, Woman's Club)
- Faith communities
- Chamber of Commerce, other business associations
- Local institutions (university, hospital)
- Specialists (architects, scientists, engineers, media experts)
- Local elected officials and key government staff
Contact each potential partner personally. Outline your proposal: (1) Climate change is a serious threat that affects us all. (2) There are important actions that we as individuals and a community can take to help curb global warming. (3) Would you be interested in attending a meeting to help decide how we might work together to reduce our community's contribution to climate change?
Developing a Realistic Goal
Bring your potential community partners together to discuss concrete ways in which you might collaborate to reduce your community's carbon footprint. (This will likely take more than one meeting.)
- Is there already community interest in a particular climate-related issue such as a green building ordinance, a waste reduction program, or a safe-routes-to-school program to encourage more children to walk or bike to school?
- Does your city have a climate action plan but need help in raising residents' awareness of what they can do to help the city meet its emissions reduction goals?
- Are city officials receptive to the idea of signing the U.S. Mayors Climate Protection Agreement and collaborating with its citizens to develop a climate action plan?
Kicking Off the Campaign
Once you and your community partners have established a goal and developed a set of strategies to accomplish your objectives, it's time to organize a kick-off meeting. Publicize the meeting widely to attract individuals who do not belong to one of the organizing groups but who want to get involved in fighting climate change.
Identify the types of activities needed to implement the various strategies and appoint a task force chair/co-chair for each. Use a portion of your kick-off event to break into task force groups and give those in attendance a chance to choose a task force, network with others with similar interests, and decide on next steps.
Making It Happen
As your campaign moves forward, a steering committee of community partners will continue to provide coordination and oversight while the various committees carry out the tasks needed to achieve your goal. (See Tips for Building Grassroots Support for details about campaign tactics such as Reaching the Public, Lobbying Effectively, and Working with the Media.)
Celebrating Successes
Create opportunities outside of committee meetings for those working on the campaign to share experiences and get better acquainted. Organize a potluck supper or a pizza party, perhaps when a phase of the campaign concludes successfully. Use this and every other opportunity to thank those who are contributing to the success of the campaign -- and to the fight against global warming.