5.1 Well run meetings are crucial to the successful operation of your CEC.
Choosing and running a self-organising system that allows everyone to input in the way they want, and where people are clear who is doing what role. Which working groups are responsible for what areas and decisions and how the working groups / co-ordinators share info and cooperate. ( a weekly coordinators meeting, using email, signal, or telegram group )
5.2 KEY POINTS:
- Identify a clear decision making system and ensure everyone who attends the CEC is aware of it and how to get involved. Signpost it and add it on the website.
- The weekly or fortnightly meeting of the regular project workers and working group coordinators is the decision making body for the Project. People should have been involved for a while, rather than someone who has just arrived making decisions.
- Coordination roles are determined by working groups- see Section 6
- The CEC is part of the local community. A regular People’s Assembly ( 1-2 monthly) to enable feed-in from the community is important to identifying the needs and priorities of the community and getting people involved. See People’s Assembly -Trust the People section 5.7
- Communication is key. Regular meetings where people are able to actively input, listen and learn, be flexible, give and take, are important. Things go wrong when communication breaks down. Apps that allow speedy communication within and between working groups are useful. Eg Telegram or Signal
5.5 MEETINGS
THE REMINDER – read at the beginning of a meeting if it helps focus the group to cooperate at this critical time for our environment and communities.
“We are ALL here to take urgent action on the Climate Emergency. Time is ticking for us and future Generations. So stay focussed and aim for co-operation for the cause. See the bigger picture and be willing to be flexible, give and take to get the job done. Learn sometimes to let go and trust the group process and wisdom. Learn to work together to create a Socially Just and environmentally sustainable future.”
-
- Create a project organising meeting early in the week – say Monday or Tuesday 7 PM ( after main work hours means those working can attend) Arrange Child care support so those with children can attend and create a kids area to keep the kids amused and the parents able to attend and engage. ( it takes a village to bring up a kid)
- Set up a system to prepare and contribute to an agenda before each meeting. Useful tools for this are a pen and paper passed around / asking for points for the agenda around the circle at the beginning of the meet. You could use a whiteboard or notice board https://trello.com or www.board.net, or a Google Doc.
- Check-ins and check-outs (go around the group and ask for a quick check on how they are feeling – 1-2 sentences.
- Optionally have a group one minute focus/quiet / deep breath or meditation before the meeting to focus minds or this may be needed before a tense meeting.
- In meetings with new people, do a name round where each person BRIEFLY says their name, any links to a group or experience or skills that they have that can help the Project. This is VERY IMPORTANT and helps build group involvement and networking. Everyone speaks and feels part of it from the beginning, rather than the usual few voices speaking a lot.
- Choose a note taker – REMEMBER to take Minutes, who is present, agreements made. Post the minutes in an agreed place so those who cannot attend can see them.
- VERY IMPORTANT ****Action Points recorded that can be revisited each week, to see what has been done, or what people need more help with to achieve their action point, e.g. more support, skills help or money. Someone can hand the action point back to the group if a person cannot do it, or does not have the capacity and needs more help. Make sure they are typed up, kept in a book or stored online, so others who were not present can see and a historical record is preserved for reference.***
- Alcohol should not be brought to meetings; it does not help focus.
- Be aware of Accessibility : meaning that people are not excluded from using something or attending on the basis of experiencing a disability, needing child care, travel funds etc
5.6 Hand Signals in meetings
Explain hand signals at the beginning of the meeting. Use hand signals to help everyone be involved and feed in.
Useful hand signals info here- https://www.seedsforchange.org.uk/handsig.pdf
https://www.activisthandbook.org/en/tactics/hand-signals
Activist groups have used hand signals for many years. Creators of hand signal in meetings include Direct Action Network, the Occupy movement, Quakers, American Sign Language Association, among others.
Here is a basic overview of the signals to use :
You can print off a copy from this link- Hand Signals Put them on the wall and support everyone to know what signals to use when, by explaining them at the beginning of the meeting.
More useful hand signals here- seeds for change explanations on hand signals
Rolling hands for move on, or round circle shape with two hands meaning round up your point ( its taking too long)
Make a ‘P’ shape with two hands for a proposal.
REGULAR PEOPLE’S ASSEMBLIES – (PAs)
5.7 PEOPLES ASSEMBLIES
Climate Emergency Centres are ideal places to bring together a broad range of people from across your community. A great way to do this is through a monthly People’s Assembly.
People’s Assemblies are a structured and facilitated way of discussing ideas in a group of people. They are inclusive and ensure that no one person or group can dominate. Check out the PEOPLE’S ASSEMBLY manual https://www.trustthepeople.earth/resources.
Your People’s Assemblies can feed input internally into your CEC’s working groups and also externally to the local council. Regular assemblies help your CEC become a hub for your local community to organise around local issues. To support you with how to do this, Climate Emergency Centres have partnered with https://www.trustthepeople.earth who can help you with every step of the way.
Trust the People is a movement of community organisers engaged in creating positive change for people and the planet, one neighbourhood at a time. They run a free, regular, online community organising course which covers everything from:
- How to explore your own story, identity and biases, to enable you to build relationships with others founded on trust
- How to work well with others in groups, deal with conflict and work together harmoniously to achieve your shared goals.
- How to engage your community, think about who is missing from your shared spaces and how you might bring people together.
- How to organise and facilitate a People’s Assembly – check out the manual on our website.
- We also support our network of community organisers to put their skills into practice. We assemble organisers into ‘Hives’ of 7-9 to meet regularly online and share the highs and lows of their organising. We also run regular Open Space calls for anyone to drop in and get support, and much more besides.
- Connect with TTP on social media to find out more and sign up for our next course
https://www.facebook.com/trustthepeople
https://twitter.com/TrustThePeople1
https://www.instagram.com/trust.the.people/
Whatever matters to your community, Trust the People can help you organise. With your Climate Emergency Centre as a base, there really is no reason not to start building that better world that we all know is possible.
5.7 SUPPORTIVE CULTURE and COMMUNICATION
We are learning to live differently- to live in community and respect ourselves, each other and the planet. We are all here to support each other.
- Resting and sustainable community work : take days off, rest, go out somewhere, enjoy nature, do something away from the project to relax, avoid burnout.
- Socialise and celebrate, get the crew to celebrate together away from the project, which builds crew morale. Take group away days and personal holidays. Sustainable community activism.
- Meditate, get a healing/ massage/ therapies group to support the project and its volunteers. Organise some healthy and well being events.
- Healthy food/ cafe vegan volunteer food – regular healthy meals for hard working crew is very important. This is the responsibility of everyone and the cafe food/ sustenance working group.
- Talking circles ‘ A Native American Tradition” – heart/ feeling sharing: Used by the International Rainbow Gatherings Community, a very useful community Tool. To create a talking circle, pass a stick around a circle of people. Each person gets a chance to talk – share feelings, knowledge and wisdom. These may be done on a specific subject or following a significant event or to re-connect. Most importantly it is a ‘Listening circle’ where everyone else listens to each person. This helps to make everyone feel part of it and everyone has an equal voice and provides a diversity of opinions. Traditionally people can speak from their heart for as long as they wish, when Tribally people sat in council together, more time was available as people lived by natural rhythms rather than the clock. However, in modern settings a time limit can be set on people’s contributions- say 2-4 minutes depending on the size of the group or subject or timing constraints.
5.8 CARETAKER GUIDELINES / VOLUNTEER AGREEMENT
Write a short document that clearly states what is expected from a community centre volunteer or project caretaker. Create a Volunteer induction process with eg 10 easy steps on what is expected from a new volunteer, training, Health and Safety, info on policy and procedures etc
Volunteers should be welcoming and friendly and work in a spirit of cooperation. Their tasks can include help keeping the space clean, tidy and safe. Explaining to visitors what the project is about in a few simple lines. How the project runs, the working group system, where things are and how they can get involved. When events or meetings are happening. Some CECs have created a new volunteer form to recruit and get people more involved.
IMPORTANT NOTES
- Knowledge is Power. The more people who have knowledge, the more people have power. However, if knowledge becomes siloed, it excludes and creates more hierarchy and conflict. Ready and easy access to information, and ways to get involved, is important.
- https://vocaleyes.org is a useful tool for informing and involving everyone who uses your CEC to input on decisions and discussions. Successful examples in Swansea community consultations.
- https://www.loomio.org came from the Occupy movement and helps discuss, decide and collaborate online.
- It’s good to have some open meetings that introduce and bring new people into the project. However the decision making process for the centre should involve those working most of the time on the project rather than someone who has just walked in. Having said that a monthly People’s Assembly can feed into the centre organising group, decision making process.
- Diversity of life experiences and backgrounds brings strength and wisdom to the group.
- A ‘vibes watcher’ may be appointed in some tense meetings who reminds people to breathe / take a 1 min break when meetings get tense.
- Keep learning, keep evolving, keep self organising.