Knowledge roundups are created in response to questions raised by members of the Global Grassroots Support Network (GGSN). The GGSN is an initiative building upon the Blueprints for Change* project. The GGSN is a security-conscious community of practice that aims to improve support for grassroots movements around the world, without a top-heavy structure.
Our network works with grassroots groups, and the groups that support them, that are advancing climate justice, racial and economic justice, gender / sexual and reproductive rights, and political freedoms and civil rights. We share knowledge around common challenges that these groups face, and how each project has solved for them. Questions are raised to other GGSN members to compile the knowledge and resources we have to respond.
In this roundup, we responded to the question: How do we help people to overcome discouragement, and come back when they leave due to burnout?
**See the following document for the GGSN definition of “grassroots.”
GGSN anonymized community answers
Going back to the roots is important
I think this is a general issue for most [since] the pandemic [started]; losing contact with others. Some of us don’t come back that easily. Thinking about the initial purpose is important. Sometimes we also need time, setting up boundaries, not pushing so hard. We first need to feel good again about what we do.
Resource: https://www.amnesty.org/en/documents/act10/3231/2020/en/
Offer community healing spaces and adapt ways to engage
I developed new chronic health issues from the pandemic. It required a rapid scaling back how much I was doing. I felt guilty, but I couldn’t couldn’t come back into movement spaces sustainably until that time for my health was taken. I can’t recall who said, “a movement isn’t a movement if it can’t move without us.” People must be able to step back from the demand of societal change to focus on taking care of themselves and their community members, in a world that doesn’t create space for this, for sustainable movements. What brought me back into movement spaces was engaging in collective healing spaces, and learning about other ways to engage that met my new access needs.
To support this, offer healing spaces, such as healing circles to vent or practice gratitude together, or circles to grapple with challenging topics like unlearning ableism, so people can heal in community. I think something our movement spaces as a whole could do better at is letting disabled people, and especially QTBIPOC disabled people, lead on this. Disabled people are arguably some of the greatest experts on burnout prevention and management, out of survival necessity.
Here’s a few more things to check out:
Shake up the Establishment has a journal for purchase, specifically designed for climate activists: https://www.shakeuptheestab.org/journal. It includes:
- 40+ interactive activities & prompts centring rest, recovery and resistance & collective dreaming
- Evidence-informed readings and reflective activities
- Resource compilations that further critical understandings of justice, decolonization, mental health awareness, intersectionality and systems-thinking
- Creative written work centring intersectional lived experiences
- Invitations to find ways to engage in prioritize slow, intentional and relational community care
Make space for visioning
We had a wave of disappointment after 2019 strikes despite how many hit the streets. Covid hit and couldn’t do the things that made organizing fun anymore. What is the shared vision of the world we want? We created a space for grief, and that was hugely powerful.
Related resources: https://en.wiki.lehub.ca/index.php/Navigating_turnover_in_student_groups
https://en.wiki.lehub.ca/index.php/Diagnosing_low_group_capacity
https://en.wiki.lehub.ca/index.php/Activist_mental_health
https://en.wiki.lehub.ca/index.php/Mobilizing_and_activating_members:_recruitment_and_retention_101
Make sure you have a community.
Make sure you’re not only doing activism. Having friends is important to get people to come back! Do things together that aren’t activism related.
Burnout comes when you think you need to work harder to solve the problem. Take time off instead!
Do the things you want until you feel guilty about not doing enough. Then when you feel guilty, take some more time. E.g. start up an accessible nature group!
Document ways communities are showing care for one another
Collective care strategies being documented: https://drive.google.com/file/d/1FUYKpnDvJnmjYyr-5BuA78n3ubrC5CFc/view
Attribution
Input and resources for this guide were provided by:
- Amnesty International
- Shake Up The Establishment
- This Autonomia
- The Climate Justice Organizing Hub
- Liga de Salud Trans
Individual contributors to the knowledge roundup have been anonymized.
This knowledge roundup was prepared by:
