Training & Support

We highly recommend that in the run up to your assembly, you pull together volunteers who want to help facilitate and/or note-take and run practice sessions face-to-face, or even online. Offer practice sessions in the run up to the community assembly to help your facilitation and note-taker team feel confident.

Recorded Trainings & Open Calls

• How to set up and run a Community Assembly. YouTube October 2023: Running an Assembly training

• Assemblies Facilitation Training. YouTube November 2023: Community Assemblies Facilitation Training

• Introductory Open Call on Community Assemblies YouTube Open Call June 2023: Introduction to Assemblies

• Introduction to the Community Assembly Escalation Plan. YouTube October 2023: Open Call - Escalation from Assemblies

Trust the People

THE expert trainers inspiring and empowering people everywhere to really bring democracy home, Trust the People run excellent training sessions to give people the knowledge and resources, try out new skills, and feel confident in their ability to organise and run an effective Community Assembly. We highly recommend their training.

• The Course: Enjoy 8 weeks worth of fun, in-depth training to equip your local community in how to organise and run an effective magical experience in deliberative democracy. And it's totally free, twice per year from the experts in building deliberative democracy.

Talking To Local Politicians

If considering involving politicians and officers in your community assembly or escalation plans check out the Local & Regional Authorities Map.

Also, check out Hope For the Future’s website. They run regular trainings, which are very informative.

If you are contacting a Member of UK Parliament (MP), XRUK's Political Advisor can provide general guidance to help you find out the most effective approach. Contact political@extinctionrebellion.uk.

Let Us Know

We’d love to know if you are planning a Community Assembly in your local area so that we can support you with any questions you have, help obtain expert advice and possibly help provide facilitation. Please:

• Get in touch via our UK Asssembly Telegram chat,
• email us at assemblies@extinctionrebellion.uk, or
• message us via the UK Assemblies Reception Mattermost channel

Further Training and Support

• Involve: public participation charity, on a mission to put people at the heart of decision-making.

• Humanity Project: an NGO offering practical support to local groups wanting to set up what they call a 'Pop', i.e. a popular assembly. NB their immediate goals of popularising assemblies is shared with XR, but they do not share XR's Third Demand. At the time of this update (August 2024), their volunteers may recommend organisers not refer to XR support in organising.

• Assemble Video Course NB This is geared towards upcoming elections and influencing Parliamentary or other regional government candidates

• 2025-2027 Strategic Plan - Hope For The Future

• People Powered Democracy Accelerator 6 month training course.

• Egin- unlocking "...the collective power of communities in Wales to take their first steps towards tackling climate change and living more sustainably..."

More and more trainings are popping up regularly. If we are missing some great training resources, please message us to request adding links here.

Just Go For It!

While we hope that everything you need to know is here, it is worthwhile remembering that every assembly is different because it reflects your community’s particular needs.

Deliberative democracy is a learning curve for all of us. Don’t let perfection be the enemy of progress. Just give it a go, do your best, then enjoy the process. Your effort will really be appreciated by participants who are not used to being listened to and who enjoy getting to meet like minds in their community.

You may find that there is demand for more assemblies. Trust the process and go for it!