Preparing for a Movement Assembly

Facilitators and Note-takers

We are always looking for facilitators for small breakout room discussions, especially via our Assemblies Sharing chat.

Potential facilitation or note-taker volunteers can watch the Assembly Facilitation training via recorded video.

Please note, we are not offering guidance on note-taking, given different styles of everyone. We appreciate that this role is, however, perhaps more difficult than facilitation. Some note-takers want to write full, verbatim records; others will paraphrase to enable simpler, faster analysis at the priority finding stage of deliberation. Some organisers now use software, such as 'Dembrane' to record discussions, which ensures transparency and more accurate reporting.

Contact us to volunteer as an Assembly Facilitator (or to ask questions, stating whether you’re already trained or experienced) at 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 usually 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. There is a recording and more info from the first Movement Assembly that took place on 27th July 2025 .

What Happens in the Breakout Rooms

• Once in the small breakout rooms, the group can decide on breaks and when these will be, or if you need a comfort break at any time, let the facilitator know.

• Each breakout room will have a facilitator (F) and note-taker (N). If the breakout room doesn't have someone with an F or N before their name, the participants need to decide who will take on these roles.

• Note-takers will record the group's contributions using a harvest doc. Volunteers for note-taker should join the assembly on a computer or tablet and not on a phone. They should ask people to slow down when needed to make sure contributions are recorded accurately.

• Facilitators are also advised to join using a computer or tablet as this makes the task much easier.

• Facilitators are there to support the group and to make sure everyone’s voices are heard. Please respect the process and use hand signals when contributing to the discussions. Facilitators can explain the hand signals to the breakout room participants.

• Timings for an hour and a half breakout room are likely to be:
  • 75 minutes for the main discussion.
  • 15 minutes to identify your three top ideas.
  • The note-taker will then read the 3 ideas back to the group for agreement. Once the group is happy, the note-taker will enter the group's 3 ideas into Polis.

How Will Polis be Used?

• The Polis Moderators then check the submissions to make sure personally identifiable information isn't included, e.g. names, email addresses, telephone numbers etc.

• Polis will then open for voting for a week, usually from midday on the Tuesday (if Assembly runs on a Sunday). Everyone will be able to vote on all the groups’ top 3 ideas over the following week.

• The Polis results from this round of voting will be published on the Rebel Toolkit and everyone who registered for the Assembly will get these via email.

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 at wellbeing@extinctionrebellion.uk or 07773 193704.