Prep work
- Familiarize yourself with the purpose/format of manifestos and look for inspiring examples.
Competences/activities to be practiced first by the teacher
- Both the teacher and learners will need to first practice ‘Investigating projects contributing to climate resilience and regeneration’ (4.4.1.).
- They could also benefit from the ‘Futures Literacy Lab’ (4.2.2.) as an opportunity to reflect on assumptions, biases and values that drive their actions in the present.
Levels in the activity
- Manifesto
- Guidebook
Level 1: Manifesto
- During the first session, explain that a manifesto is a document publicly declaring the position or program of its issuer. It advances a set of ideas, opinions, or views, but it can also lay out a plan of action. While it can address any topic, it most often concerns art, literature, or politics. Manifestos are generally written in the name of a group sharing a common perspective or purpose.
- Let the learners know that you are inviting them to write a manifesto about the climate resilient and regenerative world they want to contribute to, and thus offering them the opportunity to synthesize what they have learnt, which values/approaches moved them, and what actions inspired them in a format that conveys a commitment to action.
- In addition to introducing the purpose of a manifesto, share inspiring examples, and offer learners to start reflecting on key elements they would like to share in the manifesto: this includes their understanding of the context, the vision they developed, and the next steps they intend to take as a group and/or in collaboration with other stakeholders locally.
- During the following two sessions (or more if necessary), allow learners to work in small groups on different sections of the manifesto and to discuss among themselves the points that lead to disagreements. When possible promote the possibility of coming up with a third way when some positions appear to be irreconcilable.
- Let the learners know that the manifesto does not need to be perfect, nor long. The value of the exercise is for learners to reflect upon and integrate what they learnt in activity 3.4.1. ‘Designing for resilience and regeneration’, as well as to practice collaborative decision-making, which is always challenging.
- Once the manifesto is written, encourage learners to format and illustrate their manifesto, to have it as a poster in the classroom, and/or to share it with the local authority.
- Optional activity: every 3 months invite learners to reflect on their progress in the implementation of the next steps written down in the manifesto, and/or in the deeper change that it may create within them or for the group as a whole.
Level 2: Guidebook
- The purpose of the guidebook is to share learnings, suggestions, recommendations, and open questions that can help other learners or community groups create supportive conditions for climate resilience and regeneration locally.
- It is a more complex and detailed document than the manifesto, and can help learners further integrate their learnings by taking a step back and reflecting on the information, approaches, methods and tools that they found most helpful to understand climate resilience, regeneration, transformative change… as well as to strive to work together within groups to design specific approaches, and/or take actions, if any.
- The process of writing the guidebook is more important than the actual learnings, suggestions, recommendations, and open questions shared within it. Special attention should be paid not to make it ‘the method’ to be implemented by everyone worldwide. This exercise can offer a chance to reflect on positionality in relation to the target audience of this guidebook (e.g. other learners at the start of their transformative climate resilience and regeneration journey in the city, local community members…).
- The guidebook can be a report, or a multimedia format hosted online, including multiple images, audio-visual materials and opportunities for exchanging with others.
- The guidebook can include information that weaves together science, arts, emotions, connections, technology… It can be creative in its format and the way it looks.
- Encourage learners to write the guidebook in groups, suggest the writing of several guidebooks, and/or assign different sections of the guidebook to different groups.
- Allow sufficient time for this activity to enable learners to tap into their creativity, and coordinate with stakeholders of the target group in order to make the guidebook tailored to their needs. Convey that it is better to check with the target group what they would be interested in, rather than assume to know what they need.
- Encourage learners to share their guidebook widely among their target audience, to organize a presentation session, and to create opportunities to collect feedback about the use and usefulness of the guidebook.
Dos and Don’ts
Do
- Organize regular Q/A sessions with each of the groups so as to support them with any technical questions as well as with the writing process.
- Encourage the use of creative approaches to share the content of the guidebook with other learners.
- Request a clear referencing system for the sources of the document, which should be public and easily accessible to the readers of the guidebook.
- Check the scientific soundness of the technical parts of the document before publishing, if you choose to go that route.
Don’t
- Don’t have a preconceived vision of what the target audience needs or wants.
- Don’t limit the creativity of learners regarding the format of the guidebook.
Adaptations
Feel free to offer many different options of what a guidebook can be, so as to allow learners to choose the format that they would like to work with. Encourage them to transform the format as they work on the guide and to choose the modes of dissemination they have researched and would like to experiment with.
We invite you to adapt this activity to the specific needs of your learners, including by taking into account their neurodiversity. When adapting tools and activities for neurodivergent learners, please note it is not about treating others how you want to be treated, but how they want to be treated. Ask, listen, and stay open to different ways of learning and engaging.
References
This activity was designed by One Resilient Earth based on activities implemented with various stakeholder groups and communities.
Global Center on Adaptation. (2022). Case Studies on Adaptation and Climate Resilience in Schools Schools and Educational Settings. In https://gca.org/reports/case-studies-on-adaptation-and-climate-resilience-in-schools-and-educational-settings/
Gibb, N. (2016). Getting climate-ready: a guide for schools on climate action. In UNESCO eBooks. https://doi.org/10.54675/moyx1103
