Movement Assemblies

Using the Community Assembly format to 'walk the talk' within XRUK to involve all rebels in participatory democracy.

What are Movement Assemblies?

Based on the Community Assembly format, the UK Assemblies team will support our movement to continue walking the talk and to flex and strengthen our democracy muscles. You are invited to be part of that process by helping to suggest and choose the topic for our first Movement Assembly.

Assemblies are a beautiful way to bring our collective wisdom to resolve our toughest issues.

To enhance the Movement Assemblies and get the best from this process, we're using an online interactive, democratic voting platform called Polis (more info here). Polis is used all over the world by governments, academics, independent media and citizens for more inclusive decision-making. It is described as, "A real-time system for gathering, analysing and understanding what large groups of people think in their own words."

We know that when people come together in trust and love we make fairer, more inclusive, creative and transparent decisions.

Movement Assembly #1

The Question for Discussion was...
"How might we effectively engage and activate more people in the climate and nature crises?"

Speakers giving input to the assembly were from the following XRUK teams: Media & Messaging, Outreach, Action Planners Circle, Community Building, Allies and UK Assemblies and Strategy.

Did you miss the assembly and would you like to catch-up now?

  1. You can watch the recording (46mins) of the first part of the assembly and then take part by voting on the ideas generated from the small breakout room discussions.


  1. Vote on the ideas via Polis - open from 12pm (midday) on Tuesday 29th July until 12pm (midday) on Tuesday 5th August.

Feedback Survey

This was the first of what we hope to be many more Movement Assemblies to help us all to 'walk the talk' and learn more about each other, hear more voices and share ideas across the whole of XR.

Please help the UK Assemblies team improve how the assemblies are run by giving your feedback. The form takes approx. 1-10 minutes, depending on your answers.

Click here to complete the feedback survey.

Q&A

Various questions were asked during the assembly - these will all be curated and posted here asap.

Links shared during the assembly

During the first part of the assembly we heard from a variety of XRUK teams and they shared a number of links to help you learn more about their work:

How the question was chosen by the movement

Details of the three week process to choose the question
In Week One ...

Sat 28 June - Fri 4 July
Over 600 ideas were gathered from almost 480 people throughout the week.

Duplicated ideas for topics were edited out by Moderators to minimise overwhelm and frustration of participants. However, the breadth of issues people want to discuss means everyone will see many possible ideas to vote on. See Moderation info

In Week Two...

Sat 5 - Fri 11 July
Everyone voted on the topics that were submitted in the first week.

Some duplications were merged and some sentences rephrased to statements which left 588 ideas to vote on. You didn't need to vote on every idea. Polis worked its magic even if you only voted on 20 ideas.

You can read the Guide: Polis for Participants, so you understand the process followed so far and to make the most out of taking part in the next stage of deciding the topic for our first Movement Assembly by voting on everyone's submissions.

In Week Three...
Data from the Polis used for choosing the question

Polis Report

Explainer: How Polis Works | Groups and Their Opinions

Polis takes the data and breaks the participants down into groups of people whose opinions differ significantly. This does not mean that they don’t agree on anything, but more that their priorities lie in different places.

In this case, it found three distinct groups (A, B and C).

Their opinions can be broadly defined as:

At the bottom of the report under the All Statements section, the results are displayed for all participants OVERALL and broken down by group for every statement.

You can select the drop-down arrow next to Sort by: and choose different options to display the info. Two of the most useful are Number of votes and % Agreed.

Overall Results

The Overall results are most closely aligned to those of Group C - which makes up 86% of respondents; those in Group B actually felt more strongly positive about the Top 10 statements, and Group A felt more negative/mixed.

The aim of Polis is to allow the statements upon which most people are likely to agree ‘rise to the top’. In this case, the themes that most closely align with the majority of those participating are around engaging the wider public in the climate fight.

Summary

Screenshot 2025-07-13 122420.png

How we prepared for the assembly

Details of how we prepared for the Assembly included:

Optional Pre-Reading

This was a list of things that we thought people would find helpful before joining the assembly.

The schedule of the assembly was

Any questions? Contact the UK Assemblies Team.

If you find any of these processes confusing or overwhelming, need adaptations, a buddy or have other access needs, please do contact wellbeing@extinctionrebellion.uk or contact 07773 193704.

Preparing for a Movement Assembly

Facilitators and Note-takers

We are always looking for more facilitators for small breakout room discussions. You can watch the Assembly Facilitation training via recorded video.

Contact us to volunteer as an Assembly Facilitator (or to ask questions, stating whether you’re already trained or experienced): assemblies@extinctionrebellion.uk

Drop-in Sessions

Everyone is welcome to come to these with questions about the Movement Assembly process, assembly facilitation, note-taking or Polis, XR's interactive polling tool.
Every Thursday 13.00–14.00 - Join the Zoom.

Assembly Process

The first section before the breakout rooms, will be recorded. After the assembly, this will be shared for those that couldn’t attend but want to see the process and also take part in voting after the assembly. Click here for timings and registration link.

What Happens in the Breakout Rooms
How Will Polis be Used?

Any questions? Contact the UK Assemblies Team

If you find any of these processes confusing or overwhelming, need adaptations, a buddy or have other access needs, please do contact wellbeing@extinctionrebellion.uk or contact 07773 193704