Join Greenpeace for a three-day Basic Actions Training. There will be a focus on developing a foundation of both theoretical and technical action skills, in three areas: Arts & Creative Resistance, Blockades, and Climbing. Participants will get the opportunity to choose which track they would like to spend all three days learning about.
This is a three-day training. Applicants must be able to commit to attend the entire time. For folx outside of the Bay Area, please make sure that you will be able to arrive no later than the evening of Monday, June 27th and depart no earlier than the morning of Friday, July 1st.
You will be responsible for your own travel and lodging costs. Limited travel stipends will be available for people who need support in order to attend the training.
This training will be a sober space.
Skills offered
The primary skills tracks offered at the training are the Activists’ ABCs:
Art and Creative Resistance: Participants in this track will learn the essential skills to make and use banners, silk screens, props, posters, graphics, puppets and a variety of other tools to produce effective high quality images for use in direct action, street theater, marches, protests, etc.
Blockades: Participants in this track will learn essential skills for occupying space using their own bodies and technical tools with a focus on developing skills that will be useful in their broader activist communities.
Climbing: Participants in the climb track will cover techniques, equipment, and procedures used by Greenpeace climbers globally. Rope access principles, mechanical devices, and other climbing methods will be introduced. The concepts shared can be adopted by all those who integrate climbing, protest, and resistance.
When filling out the application, please indicate which of the 3 main focus areas (Art and Creative Resistance, Blockades, or Climbing) you are interested in exploring. Spaces are limited in each of the tracks, and the organizers cannot guarantee that everyone will be placed into their first choice. If you plan on attending with friends from your region, it is recommended that you split up between tracks to maximize information gathering.
Program Goals
The organizers write:
“One goal of the Greenpeace training program is to spread skills in a variety of direct action techniques throughout the activist world with the idea that the more skilled and experienced activists there are in our shared movements, the better for all. We recognize the fact that most, if not all, meaningful social movements throughout history have been conceived, organized, and orchestrated from the ground up by front-line communities. We also see how the environmental activist movement has often failed to be inclusive and supportive of these very same communities. As a larger, well-resourced activist organization, Greenpeace wants to be a part of changing this dynamic by supporting all communities through offering direct action skills trainings, resource development, and bringing different activist communities together by creating a safe and inclusive space for skill sharing and learning.
“To that end, we will prioritize outreach to people in marginalized, underrepresented, and front-line communities. Black, Indigenous and other people of color, women, especially women of color, LGBTQ and gender nonconforming individuals, and those with limited financial resources are all highly encouraged to apply.”
If you are interested in attending, please RSVP no later than June 13th and fill out the application form. Encourage folks in your network to do the same.
Please feel free to direct any questions to Rico at rico.sisney@greenpeace.org.