What is ACTionism?

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ACTionism works to help people move from caring to action

You know that feeling when you look around you and see what needs changing, but wonder if you're alone in caring? You're not. And you have more power than you think.

ACTionism is the art of finding your people and taking action - together.

Inspired by Jon Alexander's insight in his book CITIZENS, that "all of us are smarter than any of us," we reject the tired narrative that you're either a passive subject or an isolated consumer. What you are instead is an active citizen capable of creating meaningful change. 

Many of us feel powerless in the face of everything the world needs right now — wondering what difference we can make, silently hoping it will all blow over, or that the next party in power will finally fix things. The research suggests they won't. Because the key to fixing everything is all of us. 

The feeling that nothing we do matters takes a serious toll on our physical and mental health — but here's what ACTionism shows us: When you find your people and act together, something shifts. 

You can have an impact.  You can also have fun and feel joy in the process.  

What we do

ACTionism is an emerging entity - but we exist to encourage and facilitate people to start finding others and taking collective action.

How?

1. We have a documentary film you can screen at a community or workplace screening to introduce people to the idea of Actionism
2. We're developing guides to help you run ACTionism workshops/sessions after the screenings that help people find others and start planning how they want to take action
3. We go to places and spaces and help people practice flexing their citizen muscles by starting conversations that encourage collective action
4. We're on the lookout for enthusiastic regional ACTionism pollinators who would like to champion the idea in their region, either by connecting others or by facilitating occasional workshops

Who is behind ACTionism?

The term ACTionism was initially coined by filmmaker Michael Shaw as a working title for a film created in collaboration with the Re-Action Collective (founded by Gavin Fernie-Jones and Heather Davies)

Tamasine McCaig, who had previously led the Citizens Collective project with Jon Alexander and Olivia Stamp (an experiment exploring the idea stepping into our agency as Citizens), came together to establish ACTionism as an entity - part movement, part platform, but increasingly we exist to encourage and facilitate people to start finding others and taking collective action.

ACTionism works to:

1. Help communitises see that there is a way through this - We just have to find our peoople and act together.
2. We exist to share stories, strategies, and practical guidance for collective action
3. Build collective agency and reduce feelings of powerlessness
4. Promote and enable community-led solutions acrossclimate, food, education, nature, repair, and local spaces
5. Help people turn inspiration into practical action in their communities
6. Celebrate and amplify grassroots initiatives that demonstrate collective power
7. Connect people through accessible storytelling and community places and spaces

Stay up to date

We’d love you to go a step further, by signing up for the ACTionism newsletter so we can keep you up to date with the best new content and let you know about upcoming calls and events.

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Our ethical commitment

Regenerative Practices: We support initiatives that restore rather than extract, measuring success by what we leave behind.

Ethical Funding: We only accept funding from organisations focused on regenerative practices. We don’t accept funding from entities investing in fossil fuels, arms, or organisations contributing to harm.