We will be exploring the key challenge we hear again and again across our movements: that our movements lack the capacity to develop longer term and responsive strategies for deep social transformation. Social change is highly complex, as are social movements themselves, and strategising at this level requires more than simply upscaling the tools we might use for individual organisations and campaigns. We’ll look for responses to this challenge by drawing on case studies, and exploring skillsets and tools for strategizing at scale and amidst volatile and unpredictable conditions.

We’ll explore themes including:

• Social movements and important social change today and in the past
• Transformative strategy and transformative ambition
• Revisiting the ecology of movements in the context movement strategy
• Learning from complex living systems
• Applying VUCA skills (for working and strategizing under conditions that are volatile, uncertain, complex, and ambiguous) to movement strategy

The event will be designed to complement the Movement Strategy module of the year-long Movement Learning Catalyst Programme.

Preparation and follow up

The course will be designed to integrate with the Movement Strategy Module and some additonal preparatory reading and reflection mayt be required, as well as some participation in a forum with co-participants. Similarly follow up process will help us to continue to share our learning with each other as we carry our learning back into our day to day work.

Venue

The training will take place at the Ulex Project centre in Catalunya.