A Different Kind of Fight: The Story Behind a Collective Campaign
A few weekends back, at the ACTionism Weekender, I found myself lying on the forest floor during a forest bathing session led by Jannine. Just an hour of quiet, an awakening of the senses, a settling of the noise. And when I stood up, something stayed with me: a message, clear as the wind through the trees.
It was about the word “fight.”
Not the aggressive, destructive kind, but a constructive fight. A fight for community. For connection. For those trees, for a slower, saner rhythm of life. That feeling has stayed with me, and I’ve carried it into the Citizen Friday campaign.
The nature of our work, at ACTionism, the Re-Action Collective, and One Tree at a Time, is emergent, messy, community-led. That often means things move in unexpected directions, and I sometimes (quite often) find myself asking a lot from people who are already stretched.
Recently, I shared some early campaign graphics for Citizen Friday in our networks. And… silence. At first, I took it personally. But then I realised, it wasn’t disinterest, it was capacity. Or lack of it. These are people I know deeply want to do this work. But we’re all navigating burnout, underfunding, and the sheer weight of trying to build something different with too few resources.
And weirdly, that silence was what I needed.
Because it helped me see what was right in front of me.
We’ve always done this work collectively. We co-design outdoor gear at ReSki. We co-create community solutions at One Tree. At Re-Action we dream of a new outdoor community, together. At ACTionism, WE imagine new stories. So why not make the campaign itself collective? Why not reimagine the way we campaign?
Then, last Tuesday, during an ACTionism Spotlight Call with Charlotte from No Crap Parties and Isabel from Party Kit Network, another moment of clarity dropped. They talked about the courage of simply asking for help, and doing it regularly.
That was it.
The way this campaign becomes global is not by doing more alone, it’s by doing it together.
So that’s what we’re doing. Not just a campaign for citizens, but a campaign by citizens.
So, what does a collective campaign look like?
Honestly, we don’t know yet. But we’re going to find out.
And it starts here, with 7 ways in:
🧵 Share a story - about something you’ve repaired, shared, or felt connected to (don’t forget to tag it #CitizenFriday)
🎨 Design a poster or sticker - DM us or tag someone with visual skills
🗳 Join the conversation - we’ll be launching a Pol.is poll this week
🌲 Plan a walk, film screening, or community event for November 28 - get in touch if you’d like support
📣 Share the campaign with your group, organisation, mailing list or WhatsApp group
📬 Sign up to the ACTionism newsletter for weekly updates, actions and stories
📞 Join our Citizen Friday Community Call next week - we’ll shape this campaign together
This is just the beginning.
Let’s shape this thing, together.
What can you offer?
What would you love to see?
What could we create if this campaign was truly ours?
Today, Citizen Friday, I’ll be back in the forest, lying on the floor, looking up through the trees, and dreaming about what’s possible when we go, together.
Who’s coming with US?
