Online Training: Movement Strategy and Movement Structure

We're so excited to be able to host the Ayni Institute to facilitate a two-part training to activists in Ireland. During this course the Ayni Institute will be teaching how to understand the deeper strategic needs within movements and issue areas. 

The Ayni Institute is a small training institute that coaches, incubates, and supports social movements and community organisations. They also develop research and content on movements and movement dynamics. The Institute was founded by Carlos Saavedra, a community organiser with the DREAM movement in the US, and Paul Engler, author of This is an Uprising. They work closely with Momentum US and the Sunrise Movement among others. 

The two sessions will take place on Wednesday 27th May and Wednesday 3rd June from 5pm - 7pm. The sessions will be designed for activists already involved in groups, to learn how to power up their decentralised organising to be more resilient and agile. The training is free of charge but places are limited - apply for a place here!

Training Description from the Ayni Institute

To change the issues we face we often turn to social movements that have led the way in challenging dominant institutions, raising awareness in the public, and supporting those who are most affected by these phenomena. We recognise their potential to change things for the better but have very little understanding of what a social movement actually is. In the path to becoming leaders we admit that we need organisations but rarely do we go further to admit that we need social movements that can hold the capacity of many organisations in a concerted effort. 

At times, we compete with one another across different theories of change and find ourselves mired in the wrong conflicts. We struggle to achieve and maintain the scale that is necessary to make our movements effective and significant. Our organizations succumb to fights over funding and a lack of strategic capacity. Our people burn themselves out in trying to work endlessly for this vision. We know that the challenges we face call for something more. 

During the first session of our training we offer Movement Strategy as a way to recommit ourselves to the deep study of our craft, to organise our efforts around the idea of strategic capacity, to learn how to do the right thing at the right time. We hope this online training will offer some wisdom that you can take home with you.

For the second session of the training we offer Movement Structure where we’ll discuss the fundamentals of decentralised organization, the particulars of social change across different scales, and models and principles that we can integrate to our understanding of movements. 

Please note that this session will be interactive - there will be opportunities within breakout groups to apply the learning to the activist groups you’re involved in. 

Apply for a place!