Extinction Rebellion is organised for a regenerative culture

Extinction Rebellion (XR) has sought to provide a culture where all are welcome and where we treat our rebel friends with compassion and respect. A culture where everyone is valued equally, where every contribution is appreciated and a place where everyone’s voice can be heard.

Our Principles and Values are the cornerstone that supports this intention within our XR movement.

The XR movement’s Self Organising System (SOS) creates frameworks to work within that aim to reduce tensions and to ensure the effectiveness of our groups and circles.

The Ways of Working document has embedded our regenerative cultural values within it.

The Regenerative Cultures Circle has a purpose to support rebels to bring regenerative practices into all of the work of Extinction Rebellion, however many of the XRUK circles hold a responsibility within their mandate for contributing a particular aspect of a regenerative culture to the movement.

Justice Steering Group (JSG) - The stated ‘purpose’ of the JSG is:

Voices of historically unheard, silenced and marginalised groups are platformed. The movement is radically diverse, equitable, inclusive and accessible to all by centering justice of all aspects.

There is still much work to do within the whole of the movement to bring this intention into being. Justice, equity, access and inclusivity is a core concern for every circle.

“Extinction Rebellion is committed to equality and to enabling people who have been marginalised by systemic oppression to act now and give their message in solidarity.”

The Disabled Rebel Network (DRN) aims to ensure that disabled activists and disabled rebels are supported in all aspects of Extinction Rebellion.

Regenerative Cultures in ACTIONS

At the central core of all XR actions is a commitment to non-violence. This is a key component of a regenerative culture. It models the world we want to see by committing to causing no harm.

Non-violence includes:

• Non-harming;
• Moving beyond blame and judgement to seek to understand the position and perspective of ‘the other’;
• Truth-telling from a place of courage, compassion and love. Interdependence;
• Self-connection or inner peace.

Nonviolence is the courage to speak truth with love…and love is the full radical acceptance of the humanity of every person.

– Miki Kashtan

Action Planners and Action Circles are responsible for designing and delivering creative and engaging non-violent actions that further our strategy towards meeting XR’s Three Demands.

Action Support - stewards, action wellbeing and embedding non-violence rebels ensure the safety and wellbeing of participants and public.

Arrestee and Legal Support continue the regenerative support for those rebels who are arrested at XR actions.

Action Wellbeing team supports the physical and emotional wellbeing of everyone involved in XR’s public actions.

Embedding Non Violence Circle - When engaging in NVDA we can come into conflict with others as we intervene in their daily lives and disrupt them. The Embedding Non Violence circle/ team supports actions by listening and talking to hostile parties in a particular way using non-violent communication. In this way rebels can engage with other people without causing them unintentional harm. Non Violent Communication (NVC) invites us to move away from ideas of blame and judgement and supports us to make a more empathic connection. In the context of a rebellious action, we can use this method of communication to manage tension during a confrontation between parties on the street. The communication tool that underlies the work of the Embedding Non Violence team is Non-Violent Communication developed by Marshall Rosenberg. See the resources section for more information.

Regenerative Action Cycle

This cycle of preparation, action, reflection and rest is based on observable natural cycles and echoes teachings from many indigenous and regenerative cultures. We can follow these cycles in our work as activists in order to support connection and resilience within ourselves and our community of rebels.

This diagram illustrates how actions can be planned and executed in a peaceful and regenerative way. Inspired by the 8 Shields model, it reflects cycles that occur in nature. This cycle can take days, weeks or even months.

Winter: REST... dream, reflection leading to inspiration, reconnect to vision, connect to nature

Winter/Spring: Gratitude leading to: new ideas, welcoming back new and old faces, setting intentions.

Spring: TEAM FORMATION... training and skills, connect to anchor.

Spring/Summer: Practical prep (site, logostics, legal, press etc.), psychological prep (check-in, role-play de-escalation and wellbeing), pre arrest prep, plan post action events.

Summer: THE ACTION...honour Principles and Values, connect & communicate, action wellbeing & first aid, police station support.

Summer/Autumn: Welcome home, self care and nourishment (personal rest), connect with anchor (beginning of debrief), support arrestees.

Autumn: CELEBRATE...share stories (continued debrief), continue arrestee support (e.g. court).

Autumn/Winter: Acceptance (debriefs and feedback), talking circles (conflict, grief, gratitude).

Helping our teams and circles work in a regenerative way

Facilitation skills - Extinction Rebellion meetings are run in a particular way to reflect our Principles and Values (Ps&Vs) and encourage effective working together.

A regenerative vision reminder is invited at the beginning of meetings to set a regenerative feel. There is now a long list of these statements and poems that inspire and rebels continue to bring their own.

Healthy Teams is one of the circles with the mandate of engaging with teams within the movement in order to support them working in alignment with XR’s Principles and Values. They aim to promote a regenerative culture and encourage the development and maintenance of healthy relationships between Rebels. They offer assessments of teams and healthy team workshops to enable circles to identify areas or issues which need attention or change. See Healthy Teams reviews/ Healthy Teams workshops.

They also utilise and promote the use of other relational tools that can facilitate healthy and resilient teams such as tension shifting and short feedback loops.