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Take action!

Here you will find inspiration, ideas and everything important about taking action.

1st Rule: Always start with yourself!

Let Your Actions Roar Louder Than Words

Emotion & Strength

Knowing how best to use our emotions and strengths to work in our favour and for our cause.

“Talent is nothing else than love for what you are doing!”
by Romy Schneider, German actress

The more I love what I’m doing the more motivated I am. So we always try to use what we love and what we are good at for our actions. If you like talking to people, you can be the one at an info-point or doing workshops. If you love to organise things maybe you can structure the action plan and create a common to do list. Find what you’re excited about because that will help you to keep motivated throughout the process and overcome possible barriers and frustrations. Share your emotions with your group (read more about communication in Group) because this will strengthen your connection between each other.

If our talents are our vehicle, our emotions are the fuel.

As Miriam from Germany shared with us:

“I founded a youth party in May 2014 in Ahrweiler so young people could have a (bigger) impact in the political system and their life. I had to search for young people who wanted to join the party and support this idea. At the beginning we started with 7 (maybe 8) people. My main feelings were anger about what is happening or not happening but should be, and hope to make the world a better place for all of us.”

“I have no problem handling both logic and feeling at the same time. And it does not diminish my powers. It expands them.”
Barbie, in Barbie Movie (2023)

We should always reflect on our strengths and weaknesses. If we are aware of them, we can find a way to use them for our activism. Think of different strengths in the group: someone with a talent in visual design can create a poster. Or maybe you play the guitar? Wonderful, you can compose a song about your topic. Everyone has strengths and if you are still not aware of them, you will find it out during your activism for sure.
About weaknesses: if you already know that you are a helplessly unorganised person, maybe ask a friend to remind you of your commitments and give you a butt kick from time to time. We all have weak points but together we can deal with them and learn from each other. Most importantly, we should never forget that we all have talents and weak points.

If one day you are running out of fuel, remember why you once started and what drives you on – on the road of activism.

Risks and Legal Frame

Have you ever thought about the risks and unintended consequences that your activism might have? Or about the legal frame? Let’s pause a moment and think it through.

Risks

When we think about what we want to do, we should always consider the risks associated with it. It can be challenging to have controversial discussions with friends. It can also hurt when you get negative reactions, like: “You are getting on my nerves with your feminism – don’t be so sensitive,” “It’s none of your business what I’m doing or saying,” “you are a climate fascist.” Sometimes bad feedback and insults will come, because people feel criticised and attacked by your activism. They might not want to leave their comfortable seat and you shake their old-fashioned beliefs and threaten their privileges.

Garyfallenia from Greece has a similar experience:

“The difficult part in these conversations is that you already know these people and their background and you know how they possibly react and talk if you try to present a different idea. Every time that I talk with these friends, I have that sense that ‘alright, now you are gonna have an intense talk’, because you hear so many unfair things. So, this is the challenge to deal with somebody who may speak with terms that are not so open minded and fair and respectful for everybody.”

To stand up for justice can also put you at risk of personal consequences. When trying to protect a classmate from a teacher’s unfair behaviour, maybe you will have to pay for it in your next exam. Actions in public spaces can also put you in difficult and dangerous situations. Maybe you will get offended by negative comments on social media or opponents may attack you during a protest. These things are actually happening to activists all over the world, even in well functioning democracies.

We don’t want to scare you off, but to prepare you. It’s important to be aware and think about how to react. It’s also important to use your fear in a positive way and turn it into awareness. The law protects you if you are attacked and offended – you can claim for your right not to be discriminated against – but then the damage is already done. And take care – not every state protects your rights and freedom! So when we plan our actions and when we are talking to people, we should be aware that there could be negative reactions and think beforehand how to deal with them.

What risks are involved for your planned action?

Legal frame

Do you know the legal frame of your action? Where to register the protest? How to get permission to publish the photos, video, music or quotes? Is this accusation against a politician, for example, protected by freedom of speech or are we violating personal integrity? Is the boycott action in the supermarket a breach of domestic peace?

Are your planned actions covered by the law?

Target Group

Did you know that there is not only one but two target groups when you plan an action?

Sounds much but makes total sense, when you think about it. If you are active you always impact in two directions:

The one we fight for. If you are fighting for the interests of another target group make sure you include them in the process. If you want to support f.e. LGBTQI+ rights but you are not queer yourself, make sure to be in touch with members of the community. Read more about the target group in Knowledge.
The one we are trying to convince. If you want to persuade someone, you have to change their beliefs and clarify the importance of your topic. Do you want to approach other people like other youngsters? Children? Older people? Where and how can you reach them best? What action can attract their attention? A social media campaign is a good way to have an impact on youngsters but for sure you will not reach older people with it.
Or do you need to convince decision makers like the school principal? The city council? The owner of a company? Then try to find out who could be potential supporters – maybe there is a party that has your topic already on the agenda. What institutions and structures can be useful? Is there maybe a student union? An ombudsman in your community? Another NGO with which you can connect?
Depending on who we want to approach we should adapt the way and the style of our action – to how we can convince them best.

Whatever your plan, find people who relate to your idea and want to join you. With a group your action will have greater impact and bring more fun! (Read more about practical tips in Group.) Keep in mind, always be aware of possible supporters and opponents.

Resources

You will need resources like material, a room to meet, money to print flyers, travel costs… How to get what you need?

If we think about these things in advance we can manage them. Maybe by starting a donation action, selling cakes, doing street art or a flea market.

Hanna from Poland and her schoolmates already tried it:

“When I was in high school our volunteer club decided to organise a fair to raise money for children. We did it at our school and students and their families attended it. We sold cakes, souvenirs, had a face painting station and had performances. The biggest challenge was to engage everyone in the process, we had to have a big team. Many students took part in the event. It turned out to be very successful. Many items were sold in the auctions and people loved our dancing and singing. Then we started to organise it every year.”

Your own social network can also be very helpful and provide you with some things. Do some parents have a transport bicycle? Can your school lend you a speaker and a microphone? Luckily, asking doesn’t cost anything.
And we should always calculate our own time resources in our plan. Because during our activism we can’t study and we don’t earn money. Even voluntary work is work – you invest personal resources like knowledge, time and energy.

So what is your perfect life – work – activism balance?
What would it ideally be?

Plan the Action

But what? How? When? With whom?… So many questions! Don’t get overwhelmed. Yes, there are many points to consider but we can go piece by piece.

We recommend you to use an Action plan (pdf for download) for taking your own notes.

What?

You know your topic and your target groups very well? Then it’s time to define your concrete aims of action. What exactly do you want to achieve? What concretely do you want to change?
Sometimes our topics are very big or too general like “the trash problem”. Then it’s important to think what we as a group (or I alone) can do about it. A group of 10 young people maybe can’t stop the pollution of the sea but we definitely can clean the park in our town or start an awareness campaign. We should be prepared for a long-term-process or otherwise define an aim that is possible to reach in little time.
One group of youngsters in Larissa, Greece, for example, asked every day in one coffee shop for a coffee to go in a reusable cup. The policy of the shop was to provide its products only in its paper-plastic cups. After a couple of weeks, the shop offered its products also in reusable cups. you imagine how many cups of coffee to go they spared only with this small action? We can have a big impact already with “small actions”. “Small steps matter!” as Mariam from Germany said.

So when you think of your problem, what specifically do you want to change?

How?

Have you defined your aim? Very well. Then it’s time to be creative. Think about how you can reach your goal in the best and hopefully also joyful way. It’s helpful to keep the four ways of activism – change minds, change something concrete, ask for a change, lawsuit – in mind.
If you don’t have any ideas yet, you can think about what you are good at or what you like. Your experience, your knowledge and your preferences matter because they’re also important sources of motivation for you. Or do you want to try out something new?
To inspire you we created an Action list (pdf for download). Here you can find a lot of possibilities of activism. And when you create your own idea, don’t forget your target group(s)!

Step-by-Step / With Whom & Where & When?

You already have an idea for an action? Then it’s time to plan the concrete tasks:

Write down all the small steps that are necessary to prepare your action. It is important to get a feeling of how much preparation is needed.
Think about possible supporters who might join you and include them in your plan.
Do you think there are some opponents too? How do you want to deal with them? At least be prepared for them.
Discuss with each other how you want to communicate your action in public and how to approach possible supporters and connect with them.
Then you can set date and place for your action. To not waste energy, make sure that many people of your target groups are available. Check in advance if there is a holiday, a religious celebration, or a popular sport event coming up. Also, make sure that you can use your chosen place. Ask for permission and availability. If it is occupied, search for a plan B or use a digital space if suitable for your target groups.

Step by step, add the timeline to your to-do-list. When should tasks be completed? Set in between goals and don’t forget to plan your communication and necessary meetings. It can be helpful to write short protocols of the meetings – not only to remember what you talked about, but also to share them with the ones who weren’t there. For all the activities you do, schedule not only the start time in advance, but also the end. If the end time is not included in the plan, someone may think it won’t last long and leave halfway through; or think that it lasts longer and find themselves waiting for hours before being able to return home, which can demotivate the person.

By the way:
When you reach in-between goals on your way, can you guess what to do?

Riddle: ETARBELEC!

Who?

You have planned your working process and have a timeline? Perfect! Then you can determine responsibilities. When dividing tasks take into account your talents, preferences and resources.
Of course, it would be ideal to divide the work more or less equally – BUT equal isn’t always just. Some of you can maybe contribute more than others because of various reasons – personal, health, school, job, and more. Important is that we are all committed to what we can do and transparent about what we can’t and respect our own and others’ borders. Let’s always help each other to take care of ourselves. We can’t help anyone if we get burned out.
During the preparation process we shouldn’t forget to check our own progress. Are we still in line with our aims? Are we still together on the same track? How is our working process?

How do you feel now? Are you happy with your plan and confident that you can do it?

Take Action!

If you proceed with your action, think in advance about the possible risks and how you will react in any case. Also have in mind a plan B for things that can happen – if people can’t show up, it’s raining, invited guests are ill or late, etc.
Think globally, act locally! We are all connected in our digital and global world. That also means chances: we can connect with each other and work locally on common issues and motivate each other. In this case you could make a documentation of your action (photos, film, etc.) so that you can spread the message even broader (don’t forget to ask permission by the people who are included in your pictures and videos).
For a clean-up action, before and after photos of the site can connect many more people than the action itself, in many other places, and motivate others to do something similar.

*Picture on the Wall of Berlin, quote by Antoine de Saint-Exupéry*.

And now… celebrate your success! This is so important! You have done something meaningful and you can be proud of that.
And even if it didn’t turn out the way you originally imagined it to, you made a new experience and in any case, you probably learned a lot! Evaluate your process in the end, then you’ll be aware of what you achieved already, what you learned and what you can improve next time.
Does this all sound like work to you? So it is – because activism is serious. But also meaningful. And if you don’t forget to enjoy yourself it’s also fun. So enjoy the process!

Be Heard and Seen

Let our voices be heard and seen! That’s exactly what it is about. Let’s think about ways to spread your message and action.

There are so many different ways to spread information and it is difficult to decide which to use. Maybe social media? Or a teaser text on a website? A contribution on the local radio? A press release for newspapers? Whatever channel we’re using, we always need to make sure that we answer the following questions:

What do you want (as concrete as possible)?
Why do you do this?
Three good reasons why someone should support you.

Take a look at the practical tips for your media campaign (download PDF) in order to get inspiration.