Day 4 Session 3 Campaigning and Lobbying… By Miro and Zara

Why is this Session Important? In order to create change you need to plan campaigns and lobby! This study week is about developing leaders and future leaders for the Independent Living Movement (you guys)…As a leader, you will do campaigns and lobbying. This session has four aims: – To talk about the different ways to campaign… – To improve our campaigning techniques! – To discuss the lobbying we will do tomorrow… – To develop our skills as leaders in identifying other peoples campaigning skills…

Campaigning, Lobbying and Disabled People… Disabled people have a strong history of lobbying and campaigning for their rights… From individuals breaking out of care homes in the 1960s and 70s to disabled people marching on the European Parliament (ENILs Freedom Drive)… ZT

Campaigning, Lobbying and Disabled People…Continued …Disabled People have embraced the motto Nothing About Us Without Us. To ensure that we continue to be included in decisions that affect our lives we need to continue campaigning at every opportunity! ZT

Different Methods of Campaigning… There are many different ways of campaigning, for example: – Petitions – asking people to sign up/indicate that they support your goal (the more people the better) – Letters – sending your views to people with the power to create change – Produce Research – to show everyone that your campaign goal is needed and how it affects real people in the real world

– Lobbying – Organised groups of people with similar views taking their messages to powerful bodies (Government etc.) – Direct Action – to disrupt day-to-day working to get your message acknowledged (halting traffic, protesting, chaining yourself to something etc.) – Media – Taking your messages to the media to get increased awareness to many different groups of people. Different Methods of Campaigning…Continued

Top Tips for Campaigning… Research your campaign message goal and understand the reasons why society needs it and how it could be achieved (in practical terms). Combine different methods of campaigning – tell the media what you are doing (lobby/protest etc.) Find different groups of people who would share an interest in your campaign and ask them to get involved – 100 people are more effective than just 1! ZT

Have a plan: what can be achieved in the short term, what do we want to happen over the next couple of months/years and what is the longer plan of action? Structure your demands so you can focus on a smaller action or message which will lead to a change in the wider issue. Example: Making buses accessible leads to the wider issue of all public transport needing to be accessible! Have an ultimate goal, when will the campaign end? Throughout your campaign check to see what works and what does not. Always improve and do not worry if it is not perfect – campaigns change over time. Top Tips for Campaigning…Continued ZT

Lets Plan a Lobby…Now! First we will discuss which animals (campaign skills) best suit the different campaign methods. Tomorrow we will be meeting Members from European Parliament, Member of Office of the Human Rights Commissioners and have an opportunity to take a message to them. We will break into four key areas of Council of Europe Interest Topics (Education, Transition to Employment, Changing Attitudes, Deinstitutionalisation [Independent Living]. Talk in groups to create background information, make it relate to youth and create two key recommendations for Government to use to address these issues. We will come back as a group and share initial ideas, then return to Topic Groups to finalise your messages and recommendations and develop materials to support your messages at the lobby (you can use additional materials, such as: posters, letters, film etc.)