Prepare for Action Training
Prepare for Action [PfA] training is essential for anyone who wants to stay safe whilst exercising their right to create change through peaceful civil disobedience.
- Welcome to Prepare for Action Training
- Prepare for Action: Facilitator's Guide
- Post Training Information
- What Next?
- Allies: Prepare for Action
Welcome to Prepare for Action Training
Introduction
Prepare for Action [PfA] training is essential for anyone who wants to stay safe whilst exercising their right to create change through peaceful civil disobedience.
The training includes a mix of information, discussion and practice. By the end, you will have an understanding of how our methods work, how we organise, how we stay safe and support each other. It also includes disabled people's rights to protest and at a protest.
We have taken great care to give you the most up to date information so that you know how to safely take Nonviolent Direct Action. It would be greatly appreciated if you would make a donation to XR so that we may continue our work.
We always strive to be accessible and inclusive. If you have any questions or comments or would like to request a Prepare for Action workshop, please email us at volunteer@extinctionrebellion.uk.
Training Options
The workshop is in video format backed up by information on the Rebel Toolkit and facilitator notes. COMING SOON!
In-person training may be available locally. Check with your local or regional group. To find contact details, use the UK Local Group map.
The PfA workshop can run in tandem with national action briefings and can also be shared with allies and partners to support collaborative actions.
Protest Laws
There are links to basic protest law for England and Cymru Wales, and we recommend reading this information for Scotland, Northern Ireland and Eire Ireland.
If you have any questions, please email us on: volunteer@extinctionrebellion.uk.
Post Training Resources
Coming soon!
Prepare for Action: Facilitator's Guide
This Guide is for people who are facilitating a Prepare for Action (PfA) Workshop using the training video.
Read First
Welcome to the Prepare for Action [PfA] Facilitator's Guide.
This guide is designed to support you to deliver the PfA workshop using the training video [ADD LINK]. Facilitators are the 'third trainer' alongside the two speakers in the video.
As a Facilitator, you are essential to the experience of the attendees from organising the group, leading discussions and practices to giving post-session information.
Using the video and Facilitator's Guide means that anyone can organise a Prepare for Action workshop. This will help with training:
- local or regional groups
- onboarding new rebels
- preparing for an action or event
- planning an action with allied organsations or groups
The video is publicly available and you don’t need to be a part of Extinction Rebellion to use it. It is important that anyone joining any type of action knows how to maintain peaceful civil disobedience.
This workshop is based on Extinction Rebellion's Nonviolent Direct Action [NVDA] training which began in 2019 and has been regularly updated to reflect our own evolution and changes to the law.
Read the PfA introduction for further information.
Extinction Rebellion is a volunteer-led movement and we rely on donations to support our work including producing training resources. Please encourage people to make a donation.
For questions and further support:
- Email volunteer@extinctionrebellion.uk
- Mattermost Explore XR Reception
Who is the workshop for?
PfA is for people who want to know how to prepare to take any kind of peaceful action [known as Nonviolent Direct Action - NVDA]. Some people may already have prior experience of protests and could be looking for a refresher. The training includes some challenging concepts and benefits from having a faciliator to support participants.
People who are completely new to climate activism may also like to join:
- an uplifting The World We Want talk
- a welcoming Intro to XR talk
- an informal interactive Get Involved session
Another route to PfA training is to find regional and local groups on the Local Groups map where in-person training may be available.
Preparation
- Watch the video beforehand to familiarise yourself.
- We expect that all participants will abide by Extinction Rebellion's Rebel Agreement [sometimes known as the Rebel Code] during training sessions.
- The video can be used in-person or online. You don’t need slides and a script. You will need to be able to screenshare the video online or, in-person, project it onto a screen or show it on a large TV.
- Three activities called Spectrum Line, Deescalation and Making Quick Decisions [ADD LINKKS] will require your active facilitation. These activities are enriched by the discussion and experience that participants bring - it deepens everyone’s learning.
- There are also two places where we invite a pause for thought. You will need to pause the video and invite people to consider the question. You may wish to ask for responses or for people to post in the chat.
- The links and notes in the More section below the YouTube video and information on the Rebel Toolkit, will be kept up to date.
- You may also like to prepare by reading the rest of the Prepare for Action Training book.
Post Training Information
Hello and Welcome! This page is for people who attended a Prepare for Action [PfA] workshop. Your facilitator will have given you the link to this page where you will find all of the information referred to during the video.
Nonviolent Direct Action or Peaceful Civil Disobedience is one of the foundations that will help you to get the most out of XR. We hope that you found it informative and thought-provoking.
Additional Information and Training:
- Oppression, Climate and Racial Justice | Oppression, Movement Building and our Relationships as Activists Workshop (OMBRA)
- Rebel Agreement (also known as the Rebel Code)
- Action Support training
- Know your Rights training
- Sources of protest law information
- Disabled people’s protest rights: Guide
Most people will have done this workshop as a part of a group. Although it is OK for a person to watch this video alone, much of the value of being a part of a facilitated group will have been missed. If your group would like an online workshop or would like the workshop as part of an action briefing, please email volunteer@extinctionrebellion.uk and our trainers will offer support.
We have taken great care to give you the most up-to-date information, so that you know how to safely take Nonviolent Direct Action. It would be greatly appreciated if you would make a donation to XR so that we may continue our work.
If you have any questions or would like to contact us you can email volunteer@extinctionrebellion.uk.
If you want to watch the video again in your own time here is the YouTube link [ADD LINK]. You can also use this link to share the video with other people.
If you are interested in running PfA workshops use the Facilitators' Guide to deliver alongside the video.
If you have never been to the Rebel Toolkit before here is an explainer.
What Next?
Thinking about joining XR?
If you want to know more about joining XR go to our Welcome to XR shelf.
Where is my nearest group?
If you are wondering what to do next you can find and contact your nearest Local Group or Community Group and join your nearest action.
You can register for other talks, training and workshops that complement Prepare for Action:
How can I help?
If you are an experienced trainer and would like to deliver one or more of our talks, training or workshops or would like to learn how to deliver one, you can contact us by email volunteer@extinctionrebellion.uk or Mattermost in our Explore XR Reception channel.
We have taken great care to give you the most up-to-date information, so that you know how to safely take Nonviolent Direct Action. It would be greatly appreciated if you would make a donation to XR so that we may continue our work.
If you have any questions or would like to contact us you can email us on the address above.
If you want to watch the video again in your own time here is the YouTube link. You can also use this link [ADD LINK] to share the video with other people.
If you have never been to the Rebel Toolkit before here is an explainer.
Allies: Prepare for Action
This information is for you if you are part of an organisation or group allied to Extinction Rebellion [XR].
You are welcome to use this Prepare for Action [PfA] training video [ADD LINK] with your members, especially if you are planning to collaborate with us. It will help us all to work together and keep each other safe.
If you want to deliver PfA training, using the Facilitator Guide alongside the training video is essential to ensure attendees get the most out of the session.
During your training sessions we expect everyone to abide by the spirit of XR's 10 Principles & Values.
We have taken great care to make sure that the content including the legal section is correct. If you make any modifications you must make it clear that the content is not endorsed by Extinction Rebellion.
This video contains the most up-to-date information, so that you know how to safely take Nonviolent Direct Action. It would be greatly appreciated if you would make a donation to XR so that we may continue our work.
If you're interested in collaborating on an action or event, you can contact your nearest group/s using the XR UK Local Groups map
If you have any questions or would like to get in touch you can email us at volunteer@extinctionrebellion.uk.
If you have never been to the Rebel Toolkit before here is an explainer.