Planning a Local Paint the Streets Campaign

Local/Regional Campaingns

• IfCheck out the rest of the Paint The Streets book on the Rebel Toolkit for information on fly posting, subvertising, murals and more. This includes legal information.
  
  

• Set up a local Paint The Streets group on Signal, Telegram &/or Mattermost and invite people to join.
  
  

• Create an action campaign together, in line with XR strategy and messaging: see Rebellion Broadcast for up to date action information on U.K. Actions. Campaigns involve different mediums or approaches including: posters, stickers, subvertising, brandalism, murals. Think about drawing on the XR design programme for continuity of design and working with your groupmessaging aimsteam.
  
  

• Send out a message, sign up form and/or contact details to launchinform rebels about the campaign and inspire them to join. Leave enough time for information to be absorbed and build energy around a campaigncampaign. tryAdd interested people into the Paint the Streets group you created earlier.
  
  

• Share final image/s to alignthe XR UK Paint the Streets Telegram, adding info about which group is posting and a message, hashtags & links (if relevant). This will inspire people and spread the message of your campaign; media & messaging teams can also pick up images here and share them on further. NB: Keep security in mind and don’t include people in the photo images unless they have given consent.
  
  

• Consider sharing an action guide or prototype of the campaign to the UK group in the form of a linked document or video - so other groups can take it forward and it can be replicated (worldwide!). For example: Children’s Futures 
  
  

• Other circles can then share your brief further on other channels and networks where appropriate. Spread the love!

UK Wide Campaigns

Planning to create or scale up a Paint The Streets action campaign UK-wide? If you’re planning a new campaign please be mindful of:

• Location
• Group capacity, and UK-wide capacity
• Messaging and aligning with UK messagingstrategy
• Working around key dates/themes. Check the UK Actions calendar

Share your action brief or just sound out ideas with the Paint The Streets coordinating group. Contact the group by posting in the Telegram chat and conisderask someone from the team to reply. Or get in touch with Action Circle to check in on calendar, capacity and funding, via xr-action@protonmail.com

Key thing to bear in mind:

• Messaging and targets carefully eg. the funders and profiteers of climate and ecological destruction; the government, corporations and the bank system. 
  
  

  Planning a campaign:

  • Work up the messaging and logistics before sending out the campaign; think about how the messaging will be interpreted by society as a whole. Align your messaging with the current UK messaging and set out a budget.

  • Leave approx a month preparationat least to prepare for any big campaign. Rebels need lead time to get into a project ideaidea, sound out groups and see if it works alongside other actions.

    
    
    

  • Leave minimumapprox 22-4 weeks to print and distribute materials in your area…area. thisOr needscreate a coordinator with time to manage the project.

  • Share artworksharing link so that people can print itthe design off themselves. IfThis is a more efficient way of sharing, but if you’re able to do local distrodistribution in your city or area then it can be a real booster for groups.

    
    
    

  • Create an action event to rally rebels round a date and purpose.

  • Give time for rebels to plan for this around other actions.

    
    
    

  • Prepare for the action and be accountable for your action. Be aware of potential charges such as criminal damage, making sure all involved in the action understand the (minimal, but still important to consider and be aware of!) risks!
    
    

  • Does the campaign fit into the current XR Action Strategy Reflect on the impact of the messaging as well as how it will be interpreted by society as a whole.
    
    

  You can find more info in the Paint The Streets - UK Action Checklist

  How to set up a Paint the Streets group?

  • Work with your local and/or regional group coordinators, as they will be able to support you through the process and it helps build our network for future campaigns.

  • Find some Rebels in your local group that want to join. You can also take action with your affinity group or by yourself.

  • Create a group chat to plan and share ideas: Signal is the recommended platform for ‘spicy’ actions; Telegram for broadcasting information to your group.

  • Join the UK Paint The Streets Telegram chat to share images and be part of a supportive community. Images and videos will be picked up from the chats to share on social media platforms.

  Is there funding available for materials?

  Funding for printing and distribution of posters currently usually comes through Regional rather than Arts budgets. If there is no funding available there are some options available to you:

  • Raise the money required for materials within your community.

  • Check out the list of local groups to make contact with those nearby to you and see if they have any materials you can share. Pooling resources is key where possible.