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Learnings

UK Assemblies team didn't fully understand the power of Polis. We gave it a go using it as a poll but this isn't its optimal usage. We are learning how we can better use it to support the movement.

Based on feedback, overall the online Movement Assembly #1 went well. However, we are assuming that due to the overwhelm of Polis and the sub-optimal use, made attending the assembly off-putting. E.g a percentage of rebels felt the question determined did not reflect their concerns and therefore may have decided not to take part.

Number of people involved

  • Involved with the Polis for choosing the question = 1879
  • Attendees to the Movement Assembly Zoom call = 80 (many more may have watched recroding)
  • Involved with the final Polis = 858

Recommendations from the Movement Assembly #1

Reminder - the question deliberated on:

"How might we effectively engage and activate more people in the climate and nature crises?"

The Assembly generated suggested responses to this question, and anyone could cast votes on which ones they preferred.

The two suggestions with most overall consensus were:

🔸 Collaborate with as many allies as possible to deliver national and local actions on key issues such as water, nature and food.
🔸 Connect on major issues – water is a national and local issue. Create a common narrative and empower people to take action in their area.

Review of our first movement assembly

Roses
  • Choosing the question - strong enagement with part of the process.
  • The actual assembly - 80 participants was a good size for an assembly and people were positively engaged.
  • The actual assembly - the feedback survey indicated people really enjoyed the process and connecting with other rebels.
  • Polis - DAIC (Data Analytics and Insights Circle) did an amazing amount of work for this in a short space of time. DAIC helped the Assemblies team learn more about the capabilities of this consensus-seeking tool. Future assembly converations will now achieve better results, generating deeper exploration of issues and bringing greater consensus on what matters to those who take part.
Buds
  • Choosing the question - very interesting results splitting the people voting into two clear groups with quite different opinions; this offers opportunities to address tensions with greater insights and allows us to bridge our differences more easily.
  • The actual assembly - the initial input was perhaps too long and unfocused, but at the same time was useful for the discussions.
  • The final Polis - the two top voted suggestions (listed above) align well with XRUK's current strategy.
  • Overall - the UK email list was critical for getting engagement with all parts of this process, but other channels brought people too.
Thorns
  • Choosing the question - there were too many statements in the first use of Polis, which made voting overwhelming.
  • Choosing the question - using Polis in this way isn't the ideal way to use it. The question was very broad, so as not to impose agendas. However, this led to wide interpretations of what was being asked with Polis. However, it gives teams lots of useful explicit and measurable information to build on.
  • The actual assembly - participation in the actual live assembly was lower than hoped, despite heavy promotion.

Work by XRUK post-assembly

Notes will be added here of examples of circles embedding the results of this assembly in to their work.

  • Actions/Creative teams planning up-coming actions have acknowledged the level of concern over topics, such as water, food and nature.

  • Concerns over interal issues, capacity and focus is aligned with the work and statements helful input to the 'Circle Survey'.

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