Action Planning

Before, During and After an Action - what do you need to think about when planning your action

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Strategy & Guidance

The Actions Strategy was developed from and centered around the core XR UK Movement Strategy.

UK Actions Strategy 2023/24

Phase 1 - Here Comes Everyone, Everywhere
One page summary
Full details of the strategy

UK Actions Circle support

Major Actions, UK Wide Actions or Campaigns or Actions of UK significance should all reach out to the UK Actions circle for support and guidance.
Criteria for UK Actions Circle support

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The Actions Community - Get Help and Advice

Don't panic!

You have reached this book because you want to drive change through action - the very essence of Extinction Rebellion. You might have an idea and want help to mak eit a reality, or you might be looking for pre-packaged 'flat pack' action plans.

The Actions Community is here to help you

List groups, team chats etc.

Other teams who can give support and advice

Add short explanation and links to other parts of RT

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Diversity & Inclusivity at Actions

XR Principles on Diversity, Inclusivity & Accessibility

Extinction Rebellion is committed to equality and to enabling people who have been marginalised by systemic oppression to act now and give their message in solidarity.

These guidelines are designed to be practical and manageable and will ensure diversity, inclusivity and accessibility are embedded in action planning and design.

A useful checklist has been written by the Disabled Rebels Network and Protest Liason. This can printed and used when considering your action.

Diversity and inclusivity is important all the time. This process is for action proposals but remember that diversity, accessibility and inclusivity is just as important for the planning meetings as it is for the action itself. For a comprehensive breakdown of considerations, please see XR Principles of Inclusivity

Actions need to be designed to be as inclusive as possible. While total inclusivity is impossible, actions should aim to be inclusive for the widest range of people possible.

Where an action may exclude people, for example climbing Big Ben to drop a banner, there are additional considerations such as necessity and proportionality. However, try not to make assumptions about individuals’ limitations. Think of paralympian James Brown on top of a jet at City Airport.

The larger the action is, the greater the issue of diversity and inclusivity will be. With smaller actions, resources may be limited but the same issues must be considered and those affected should be consulted. If action planners receive requests from representatives of marginalised groups, they should be treated as a priority.

It is accepted that this is a dynamic document and, as Extinction Rebellion grows, more diversity and inclusivity considerations may become apparent and included as we respond to feedback from within and outside XR.

This process splits the actions into two types: inclusive actions; exclusionary actions. The process aims to help action planners consider possible barriers to marginalised groups starting with the process for inclusive actions and finally, on the last page, addressing exclusionary actions.

Actions that aim to be inclusive for all marginalised groups
Inclusive Actions

Covid 19 affects some groups of people disproportionately. The aim of inclusivity in planned actions is threatened if an activity presents (or is seen to present) a greater risk of infection to some groups of people. The following factors significantly increase risk:

Any activity involving a risk of COVID-19 infection presents a greater danger to people in these groups whether as participants or within the wider community. Reducing risk of infection will increase the opportunities for everyone to participate. When designing actions we therefore need to be conscious of the need to minimise the risk of COVID-19 infection. Not only will this protect rebels and the wider community, it will also help us optimise the protest and achieve our aim of inclusivity.

Actions which do not respect physical distancing and/or involve risk of arrest present an increased risk of infection of Covid-19.

Disability

Oppression - There is a significant probability that disabled people have experienced discrimination and oppressive behaviour by the police and others. The process of being arrested can be particularly harrowing for those with disabilities who may have to rely on the police for greater support and care whilst in custody. Many, with good reason, will feel excluded if the action is designed to have a high risk of arrest.

Mobility/Accessibility
Hearing impaired
Vision Impaired
Neurodiversity

There is a wide range of considerations for neurodivergent people. Offer help and be directed rather than asking about needs.

Ethnicity

Oppression - There is a significant probability that people of colour have experienced discrimination and oppressive behaviour by the police and others. Many, with good reason, have no confidence in the justice system. If the action is designed to have a high risk of arrest then this will tend to exclude people of colour, LGBTQ+ and disabled rebels.
Covid 19 affects people of colour disproportionately. Actions which do not respect physical distancing and/or involve risk of arrest present an increased risk of infection of Covid 19.

LGBTQ+

There are parallel issues with ethnicity and disability in that there is a significant probability that LGBTQ+ people have experienced discrimination and oppressive behaviour by the police and others. Actions with a high risk of arrest may exclude LGBTQ+ people. https://transequality.org/issues/resources/participating-direct-actions-guide-transgender-people

Families

Families can be marginalised with children and be members of other marginalised groups. The exclusionary issues listed in this process can have a heightened effect on young rebels.

Faiths

Protection of the planet is important to all faiths and it is important to ensure that all feel welcome.

Actions that may exclude marginalised groups (exclusionary actions)

Exclusionary Actions

It is accepted that the nature and requirements of some actions will exclude some rebels from taking part. It is important that this is recognised at the design stage and assessed to ensure that the exclusionary aspect is necessary, has been minimised and is deemed proportionate to the purpose of the action.

XR Principles of Inclusivity
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Getting started resources

The How-To guide to planning effective NVDA

A useful booklet although a few years old now to give to those thinking about their first actions

Rebel Agreement Flyer

All rebels participating in actions should have agreed to the Rebel Agreement beforehand

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Roles within your Action Team

Roles within your group

It is advised to have these designated roles covered and a back-up for each role in case of someone being unable to attend at short notice. This is not an extensive list of roles for larger actions.

These roles are designated as low-risk of arrest, however there is never any guarantee how the police will respond to an action and we are all responsible for ourselves and our actions: more on Legal stuff here.

Roles with a ** by them are essential if you’re planning a spicy action:

Many of these roles have circles within XR who can help if you need it.

Before Action

All you need to know about action design and planning, so you can design your own action, deliver the training with slides and training notes.

Before Action

Things to consider when planning an Action

Give yourself time. At least a month planning, preferably. This is especially important for nourishing a regenerative culture. It also allows you to sit with ideas and reflect and develop them without rushing into things

This is not an exhaustive list but covers the main headings it will be useful to think about before reaching out for help
Type of Action

Spicy/Family friendly, Press/Media impact, Creative, March, Rally, Occupation

Openness

It is best to tell everyone what you are doing – there is huge power in telling the government, the police and the media where you will be and when, and then doing it. This is an act of pure defiance. We are too many to stop. We are reclaiming our power. It is also respectful to give members of the public /city transport management due warning of disruption so they can choose to not drive their car/take another route. Recognize important routes where access needs to be clear for emergency vehicles. We aim to disrupt, but not to harm.

There may be different levels of OPENNESS in the planning of an action and within parts of an action:
Support from Back Office
Numbers

Think about NUMBERS when planning:

Location and Timing

Think about LOCATION when planning:

Roles within your Action team

Before Action

Access & Inclusion Checklist

Before You Start

Please use these guidelines DIVERSITY AND INCLUSIVITY AT ACTIONS when designing an action to ensure you've taken accessiblity and inclusion into consideration at the inception stage?

Further information on Accessibility and Inclusivity can be found HERE

Actions

Transport to the Site
The Site

Communication

Civil Disobedience and Direct Actions

Feedback

For more detailed information on inclusivity please check out the We are Everyone resource. And for further advice you can reach out to the Disabled Rebels Network either on Facebook or by Email at xr.inclusion@protonmail.com

Disablity Access Training | Disabled Rebels Network | June 2023
Before Action

Bringing new people into Actions

We want it to be as quick and easy as possible for new people to join us at actions. Here are some tips:

Ten committed new people joining your next action is worth so much more than a thousand sitting on a mailing list!

Before Action

How to do a RECCE

Action Design Space Workshop - How To Do Recces

RECCE is another term for reconnaissance.

At its most basic reconnaissance is preliminary surveying or research.

We try and avoid the term “reconnaissance” due to its military association, Recce is much softer and almost sounds FUN! (rec-reational!)

The success of every action is in the planning and the detail. As Benjamin Franklin said “If You Fail to Plan, You Are Planning to Fail”.

A good recce can make or break an action. A bad recce (or no recce) can potentially put people in danger.

There are three types of recce

Sometimes you need to do Multiple Area Reconnaissance (all 3) - for example the Pink Table required a recce of the junction, a recce of the march route, a recce of the vehicle route and then a recce of the wider area to think about the impact of the occupation. It also required a night time recce to evaluate late night risk - partygoers, proximity to nightclubs, etc.

Why do we recce?

Essentially, a recce is important for us to plan how to execute an effective action. This means we don't want to just turn up on the day and hope for the best!

We want to… Gather information Look out for Problems Check police presence Identify accessibility needs Make a decision about going or not going! Help identify plan B or C Ensure safety Most importantly, to ensure success!

Sometimes seeing a location in the flesh will help trigger more ideas. It’s sometimes easier to visualize the action once you’re in the space, you have a better sense of scale.

Important note – every action needs a recce (of sorts).

Before the recce

Determine what kind of recce you need to do…

Check the location via Google Maps and Google Streetview to get a feel for it.

MAKE SURE YOU ARE USING A VPN WHEN USING GOOGLE!

Be security conscious
Use paper maps

Advantages

Disadvantages

Download an offline map app like Guru maps that allows you to drop pins and make notes on exact locations. Guru maps stores information locally on your phone and not in the cloud (unless you want it to).

Download What 3 Words to help share exact pinpoint locations

Download a AR measuring app like http://armeasure.com Newer iPhones have a standard AR measuring tool.

Use a laser measuring tool

If planning actions in Central London you can use this website to check traffic hotspots everyday at the time of your action at the location…

Plan a route if needed and make a note of it.

Make a list of everything you need to check on the recce.

Who should do the recce? The three C’s - Competent, Confident and Careful

What to take on your recce?

Be Incognito

When to do your recce?

On going, live, on ground reconnaissance in the lead up to and during the action can be done via several people on site using a Whatsapp chat using live location to track vehicle positions. This can be used to communicate Plan B to all key players if needed!

During the action, especially longer actions/occupations, ongoing information gathering is essential for potential moves to a plan B or plan C, or to develop escalation of the action. A cover story that allows all areas access can be helpful, eg a photographer/live streamer, or a hand sanitiser dispenser.

Are police coming etc?

Recce checklist / Things to consider

Buildings and Infrastructure

Security/Police

Beacons / Tripods

Workers & Community

Miscellaneous

After you Recce

Recce Packs/Briefing Docs

Some aligned actions might require a recce pack; 404 is a good example. A recce pack was pulled together to advise on the areas that should be investigated at each specific Amazon depot. This pack helps ensure that those doing the visit cover all the appropriate requirements.

Case Study

Ascot Racecourse Anecdotal Observations

Information on security staff whose job is to identify threats from activists

Recce links, further reading and resources

Facial Recognition Technology

General resources

Action Resources Document

Suggested Reading

Before Action

Communication with the police

We recommend discussing your action with the Protest Liaison team.

They will be able to advise options in terms of whether to communicate with eth police beforehand or once an action has started.

Remember, we never ask for permission. In some situations it is advisable to inform authorities of our planned actions as this reduces the likelyhood of 'over policing'.

Before Action

Organising Coaches to Actions

This guidance is currently tailored towards organising coaches for Restore Nature Now on 22nd June 2024. After this date it will be updated for general guidance and/or upcoming actions.

Once you have made your arrangements don’t forget to tell us about your booking by filling in this form.

Introduction

The Restore Nature Now demonstration, on 22 June 2024, aims to be the largest ever gathering of nature and climate supporters in the UK bringing together dozens of organisations and thousands of people from across the country. Extinction Rebellion is leading on stewarding and logistics, sound and power and supporting with experience and creativity from our history of demonstrations, like The Big One.

Group transport options have many advantages. Much of the work and stress involved in travelling long distances can be eased for activists heading to Restore Nature Now if they can just turn up to a coach pick up point. The feedback received from Local Groups shows that there is appreciation for building up the sense of shared purpose ahead of an action. Finally, where affordable, subsidising costs for people seeking to take part will make it even easier for commitments to be made.

For Restore Nature Now, XRUK is advising that Local Groups arrange the transport themselves. This has many benefits:

To make arranging transport as easy as possible, XR UK has written this guide that will help Local Groups decide whether to book transport, how to do so, ticketing, best practice on the day, and what support is available from XR UK teams.

Once you have made your arrangements don’t forget to tell us about your booking by filling in this form.

The Basics

The date for Restore Nature Now is 22 June 2024.

Before starting to book transport, you will need to build an accurate picture of the needs of your local group and the wider community interested in attending Restore Nature Now. Start having conversations in your spaces and record those that would like to travel as a group, moving people towards firm commitments where possible: Drop a message in your Signal and Telegram channels, and send out an email on your mailing list. We’ll talk more about vehicle sizes later but once you have commitments from about 20 people, you’re tending towards looking at organising transport as a group. Once you have determined the interest in your group and wider community connections, it’s time to look into the practicalities of financing transport.

Renting group transport can be quite an expensive cost to bear as a Local Group and, for all of the advantages listed in providing this service for the community and removing barriers to protest, it sometimes isn’t possible to do. Nor does XR UK have the funds to support coaches coming from across the nations and regions to Westminster. This guide includes how to set up ticket sales to help you recoup costs but the priority for local groups is to plan within budget and this may sometimes mean grabbing a cheap ticket on a bus rather than travelling down as a group. Further into this guide is a section on how XR UK and the Nations & Regions can offer financial support.

Booking Transport

Shopping around

It is best to book transport well in advance to ensure availability so let’s get started. The first thing you’ll need to do is find transport providers. There are a number of options available to you:

A quick search on Google Maps for ‘coach companies near me’ will show just that. Click on a pin to see more including website information and contact details. Local companies may offer cheaper options than national companies, however some may not service long journey trips and are often slow to reply to inquiries. If local companies do offer long distance journeys they should only be used if you are returning on the same day otherwise you’ll be paying for deadhead costs of the vehicle returning to the area they’re based.

National companies will accept long distance journeys, deadhead costs will be less, and it is likely that Low Emission Zone and Ultra Low Emission Zone costs will already be covered (but always double-check).

Comparison websites can generate a number of quotes quickly, saving you time. They will take commission, possibly increasing costs. Regardless of how you found a company, you will need to do due diligence and check their reputation: We want you to have a safe and comfortable journey! Look for reviews and comments online, for example on Google Reviews. If a company doesn’t have an online presence, steer clear.

Another possibility, should your group feel too unsure about numbers or raising the deposit to book a whole coach, would be to block book onto buses that run regular trips to London. Companies that provide this service include:

You can check first that they do run a service at the right time and from near you. Also they have various cancellation policies and differ over whether you need the names of all passengers when booking - so it's good to check.

The best way to do this block booking would be to choose the bus that suits you, survey your Local Group and when you have gathered a block of people, 10, 20, 30, whatever size you decide, and then book the seats. Going down this route allows your group to repeat this as long as seats are available. Obviously, it's a good idea to encourage people to book as far in advance as possible.

Doing this kind of block booking can provide a little more flexibility, and less financial risk, though it reduces some of the benefits of having a whole vehicle to yourselves - i.e. sense of solidarity, the chance to create links between people, teach songs, share info etc.

Booking

Once you’ve found prospective companies or got some basic quotes from a comparison site, it’s time to contact the companies. Share the key details of the journey but remember this is also your opportunity to ask lots of questions!

The details you should provide:

  1. The name under which the booking will be made

  2. The purpose of the journey.
    Extinction Rebellion’s name may make companies reluctant to offer their business so where possible it is best to offer an additional individual’s name too and explain that this will be a well-organised, safe, facilitated demonstration.

  3. Whether the booking is for a one way journey or return.
    Returns increase the cost, but are practical for Local Groups to consider.

  4. The number of seats needed, which will determine the type of vehicle, coach or minibus, needed

  5. The date and time of the journey(s)

  6. Pick up address(es)
    Rely on local knowledge from coach companies for the best . Bear in mind the various locations your passengers will be coming from. Try to choose a central pick up location and be aware of the additional costs people will incur in travelling to the pick up location.

  7. Addresses of any intermediate stops

  8. How many extra passengers that will be picked up at intermediate stops

  9. Drop off address(es)
    Originally the plan was for coach organisers to arrange for parking at Wembley, Excel and the O2 and people travel onwards on public transport (with that info provided). However, Excel don't offer coach parking anymore and Taylor Swift is playing Wembley that day, so no additional coach parking is available.
    There is info on TFL website.

    Stewards will be in place from X am to Xam on the 22nd, so look out for the pink high viz.

  10. The potential additional needs of passengers

  11. Luggage space required

You should inquire about:

  1. Whether you can upgrade the booking to a larger vehicle and what extra costs are involved

  2. Whether a deposit is required and their cancellation policy
    Typically, a coach / minibus hire company will ask for a 20% deposit and cancellation policies differ greatly. Funding will be covered in another section of this guide.

  3. Their breakdown policy

  4. How additional costs such as tolls and Emission Zone charges will be covered

  5. Whether you are able to eat and drink on the coach

Ticketing

Eventbrite : Tracking bookings and attendance is crucial to transport plans and for this, so we recommend using the website Eventbrite. Eventbrite offers simple management of payments and refunds of tickets. Find details on setting up events and selling tickets on Eventbrite here.

TicketTailor : If you are a group with a bank account and payment processor set up (e.g. Stripe or Paypal) you can use the cheaper services of Ticket Tailor

Communicating that You’re Organising Transport

It’s time to spread the word that you’ve booked travel arrangements. Each Local Group is different in which communication platforms they prefer: Signal, Telegram, Mattermost and emails are all valuable tools.

Tell XRUK about your transport

How to advertise your LG Transport 🚌

Once you have your coach booked you are going to want to advertise the coach! This guide has some handy information on how to get people to book onto your coach!

You can find guidance on advertising your transport here.

XR UK would like to build a picture of how many Local Groups are organising transport and where from. Filling out this form to tell us your Local Group has booked transportation and XR can promote that you’re on your way to Restore Nature Now.

XR UK may be able to help you advertise your transportation through Rebel Ringing. You can get involved with the Rebel Ringing team here.

On the Day of Travel

Smooth running of the travel operation requires lots of systems in place that should be arranged in advance of the day itself but, most of all, make sure to arrive at the pick up point to meet your transport!

The person who has access to the attendees list from the Eventbrite platform should print off the attendees list and bring it to the coach to tick people off as they arrive. Leave no rebel behind! Remember, share this data with as few other people as possible, and those you do share it with must have signed the Volunteer Agreement. This print-off should then be shredded and disposed of. If you have arranged with the transport provider any accommodations for additional needs, then this is the time to reiterate these needs.

A comms point person should be nominated to be the point person and communicate between your group and the transport company. This will ensure that any changes to the schedule can be relayed to the group efficiently. The point person will also need to communicate with members of their group who will be at Restore Nature Now but not travelling with them to let them know whether the plan is on schedule or if plans have changed.

Plan to keep the coach tidy. Bring bin bags, cloths, and other materials necessary to maintain the vehicle in the same state as when it arrived. You may have to pay cleaning bills otherwise. Consider bringing a mask with you if you are going to be in a confined space with poor ventilation for a few hours.

Depending on the arrival destination, you may have to pay a fee. After the coach has departed you will need to telephone the number for your stop, available here: Coach drivers - Transport for London. Make sure you have payment options available.

Financial Support

The support XR UK can offer at this time is 1:1 guidance through contacting the Transport Team via hive@extinctionrebellion.uk . If there are special circumstances which necessitate looking beyond your group’s ability to fundraise, then please do contact us. An example would be if your group is providing transport for low income activists. XR UK may also be able to fund deposits ahead of ticket sales if there is evidence that tickets will be sold and seats will be filled.

Another point of contact for you is your national or regional teams which also have budgets available to help with transport costs. If you don’t know who to contact in your Nation or Region, feel free to email the above address and we’ll point you in the right direction.

Transport Subsidy

XR UK recognises that a rebel’s financial situation may also place an additional barrier to participation. One of the aims of Restore Nature Now is inclusivity, everyone is needed to be there in June. To help rebels with transport costs associated with coming to Restore Nature Now, XRUK has set up a transport subsidy scheme. We trust rebels to use this scheme with integrity.

Funds are extremely limited! We politely ask you to consider if you need this support so we can offer this support to those who need it the most. XRUK will be prioritising rebels with accessibility needs and those on low income.

Help us boost our funds!

If you are passionate about supporting people to be there for Restore Nature Now, please consider donating to our crowdfunder. Your donation will help fund the work of XRUK including funding the transport costs of activists.

Before Action

Advertising your Local Group Transport

So you’ve booked your coach, that’s great! Perhaps you used the Organising Transport to Actions guide or maybe you didn’t, but now you want to get those seats sold!

Broadcast posts

The most simple and effective way to advertise your coach is using your pre-existing channels, such as email lists, Signal, Telegram and WhatsApp chats, Mattermost, Facebook and other social media.

If you want to find out more about how you can make the most of Action Network then check out the comprehensive guide on the Rebel Toolkit - Action Network for XR.

A really great motivation to get people to sign up is to to include photos of your trips to previous rebellions or XR events. In 2021, North East & Cumbria were very successful with this and generated many bookings, they posted about a previous coach in 2019 where they stopped off at a Greggs to get a vegan sausage roll! This promoted the community feeling you can foster and enjoy when going down to The Big One together. Check out their great post here!

If you've never had a coach before, you could use other photos of XR coaches such as the Newcastle example, or photos from the Change is Now bus or other photos of your Local Group at Rebellions. Using local photos will bring the best results!

coaches.PNG

Telling friends and family

Try telling your friends and family about the transport opportunities. This also works as a great outreach method!

Incorporating the transport information into your outreach

While your LG does outreach, it may be useful for them to incorporate information about your coach into their mobilisation and outreach. It may be useful for everyone doing mobilisation and outreach to know the details so they can easily respond to any questions.

You can also make a QR code of your Eventbrite link, and print it off as a poster for when you are running a stall or survey board! You can use this to make the QR code: QR Code Generator

Tell XRUK about your transport

XR UK would like to build a picture of how many Local Groups are organising transport and where from. Filling out this form to tell us your Local Group has booked transportation and XR can promote that you’re on your way to Restore Nature Now.

XR UK can even help you advertise your transportation through the Restore Nature Now website, and Rebel Ringing so it is well worth utilising to help fill those last few seats.

Advertising Checklist

  1. Shared on social media
  2. Shared on Internal chats
  3. Shared on emails
  4. Shared to local alliance organistions
  5. Incorporated into your moblilisation and outreach
  6. Filled in the form to tell XRUK
Before Action

Media and Messaging

Very important to consider how your action will come across/how you want it to be portrayed: it is useful to agree on the following:

  1. The main narrative
  2. FACTS to support choice of action
  3. Spokespeople on the ground who can speak confidently on (1. and 2.) to press and media

It can be useful to create a ‘Key Messaging & Factsheet’ document around an action press, spokespeople, XR central media team, social media reps etc. The messaging strategy for any action must always be in line with the Core Values and Principles.

When publicising the event, think about:

Messaging Guidance

When planning the action, do your best to ensure the activists who are going to be present at the action understand what to say if approached by the media for an interview/quote. Or know who the press liaison on the ground is to direct them to.

Get in touch with your local media team well in advance of the action so that they can prepare a press release and spokespeople. Send 250 words and 5 W’s: Who, what, where, when, why, HOW? to describe the action also to press@risingup.org.uk for further coverage and support.

When talking to the media – bring your personal story, who you are, why you are doing this, your heart; then talk about the climate and ecological emergency and why it must be responded to in this way; and then move onto specifics about the narrative of your action or backing it up with more facts.

Before Action

How to plan media for an action

How to do media for an action contains more detailed guidance on

Before Action

Marches and Rallies

Marches and Rallies Video

Watch explainer video here

Practical advice

Stewards perspective on planning and stewarding a march

Before Action

Recruiting for your Action

Roles in the Action team

All rebels participating in actions should have agreed to the Rebel Agreement beforehand

Roles to consider within your Action Team

Attracting attendees

Both rebels and public need to be able to find out about your action. The Media and Messaging guides can help you to promote your action

Remember to add the event to the Movement Calendar and hence the Actions Map including specific meeting point details and a way of contact you for further details or even better, registering via Action Network so we capture potential new rebels.

It is a very good idea to check that your action is displaying correctly on the map and that the links work.

Think especially about [how to welcome new people to actions]https://rebeltoolkit.extinctionrebellion.uk/link/1312#bkmrk-page-title) this impacts communications beforehand as well as things that need to be in place on the day.

Comunicating with the team

You will need to decide which tools to use for your coordination group and which tools for the wider attendees. Needs link to guidance on tool selection and use

Before Action

Security

Security Keeping rebels safe Confidentiality Open / Closed planning

Taking Action

How to ensure your action runs smoothly, achieves the planned outcomes and cope with the unexpected. Also guidance for those participating in Actions

Taking Action

Dealing with police and security

The police liaison role helps keep police calm, remind them of our nonviolence, and helps keep them occupied rather than information gathering on all the activists or organisers present.

Civil-disobedience does not include:

All these behaviours encourage police aggression and can create a tense atmosphere.

Taking Action

Action Support

Turning a plan into reality

The various Action Support roles are there to help turn your action plans into reality.

The Action Support crew will either be drawn from your local group (for small scale actions), or the Central Action Support teams can help you to draw on UK wide pools of volunteers for these roles

Taking Action

Outreach at an Action

Taking Action

Sharing news as it happens

Livestreaming

Content or links required

Live content channel to upload photos

Content or links required

After an action

Debriefs, Tidying up on the ground and virtually, Regeneration and Rest

After an action

How to debrief

As the movement grows, it is important that we learn from our achievements and our mistakes.

A debrief after an action gives us the opportunity to recognise our skills and weaknesses and to develop ourselves both as individuals and part of a team within the movement and our environment.

Although we are taking action for positive reasons, and often come away from these actions full of excitement, joy and energy, rebellion can be an emotionally heightened and stressful time. It is likely that many people will have been running on adrenaline throughout the action. During moments of stress, our unconscious memory is more active. Debriefing can help process these memories and experiences.

After periods of heightened adrenaline, people may also experience a physical or emotional dip, which may leave them feeling unable to communicate, exhausted or experiencing negative thoughts. This is a completely normal bodily response but can feel destabilising and unpleasant in the moment. Debrief can offer a space to share and to get support in dealing with these feelings.

Passing Feedback to the Movement

The Feedback and Learning Culture Working Group have designed a debrief survey so that a rebel from each XR group can feedback to the wider movement on what worked well, what didn’t, and what to do differently in future. This survey will be analysed and fed into future rebellion planning and strategy design, both regionally and nationally. It is extremely valuable for the movement as a whole to learn from our many mistakes and achievements.

Roles needed in debrief:

The facilitator doesn’t need to be a professional and shouldn’t be expected to magically fix anyone’s hurts. Rather, they should focus on moving the group through the different parts of the session, while taking part in the session themselves.

Note-taking during the debrief can further help the group to look back and see how much there is to celebrate or understand what can be learned for next time. The learnings gathered from the debrief may also be useful to share as part of the strategy processes or pass to the Feedback and Learning Culture team. Instructions on how and where to share this feedback will be included in this Handbook post Rebellion. Watch this space!

To debrief without a facilitator:

Find a safe space in a calm, easily accessible environment. It is also fine to meet online. Ideally sit in a circle, so that everyone can see the group. Ground yourselves by spending a few minutes sitting in mindfulness and silence. Share how you’re feeling by taking turns to speak and actively listen. It is a good idea to use a talking stick to ensure that no one speaks over each other.

Resources

Here are some resources to help you plan and structure debrief sessions. There are two main forms of debrief: our standard one and an emotional one. It is up to you which one fits best for your group and you may even want to do both.

On-site-debrief-flyer.jpg

After an action

Tidying up - Physically and Virtually

Physical cleaning

We work hard to minimise the environmental impact of our physical actions. This includes tdying up the site at the end.

Virtual cleaning

Once you have sent out final messages, collected debrief feedback and shared images from your action, it is advisable to remove everyone from chat group sand delete them.

Abandondend chat groups pose a risk both from spammers harvesting contact details and also from the authorities if they gain access to a rebel's phone they are able to start to build maps of connections to other rebels.

After an action

Example Debrief - The Big One

You told us what you thought, and we listened


Click here to read The Big Debrief

The Big Debrief

Survey about a survey? Yes please! Let us know what you think about The Big Debrief!

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